A Mountain Divides Them Apart
by teacupdestiny
Summary: Two children, betrothed for the sake of world peace. A little girl and a prince who find friendship instead of hatred. A peace that doesn't last; two, who meet again on a battlefield and find love instead of death. Avatar retold as an "epic" tale in four arcs for Zutara Month '14.
1. Hidden

**ARC 1: The Promise of Peace**

**DAY 1: Hidden**

* * *

The girl he's supposed to marry (one day in many, many years from now) has a talent for getting lost. Zuko doubts that; he has a feeling she likes to hide (and lately, she seems to be showing up wherever he's supposed to be). This time, he finds her in the royal gardens.

She's smaller than Azula, kneeling at the bank of the turtle-duck pond and quacking loudly. Her blue robes are muddy, a white sash half tied and dragging behind her. The Southern princess is five and Zuko wonders how she got away from her nursemaid this time.

"Katara," he says, "Where's your nanny?"

The little girl startles and nearly falls into the pond. He catches her easily (his own little sister used to fall in all the time) and she has the audacity to quack at him. Zuko scowls; he's eight years old as and _far_ too dignified for this.

"Where's Sokka?" he asks, pulling her away from the pond.

"No!" she protests, trying to pull away, "I wanna feed the duck-chickens!"

"They're turtle-ducks," he corrects her, "And you have to have something to feed them with."

He ignores her protesting; the sooner he takes this _stupid_ _girl_ back her _stupid nanny_, he can get on with avoiding Lala's clingy hugs and _trying_ to find Sokka. Zuko means to get this over as soon as possible, but what he doesn't mean is to pull her so hard that she slips and lands face-first in the grass.

He swears (his nanny would wash his mouth out if she could hear him), pulls her up as quickly as possible. Katara brushes hair out of her face with dirty little hands, sniffing pitifully.

She bursts into tears.

Zuko pales.

"No, don't cry, Katara!" he pleads with her, "Please don't cry!"

"_But I want to feed the duck-chickens!_"

Her voice grows in volume. Making the Southern princess cry will get him into _heaps_ of trouble. Zuko panics.

"I'll help you feed the turtle-ducks," he says, "If you promise to stop crying!"

Those tears vanish, replaced with a smile and dimpled cheeks. She produces a loaf of bread from a nonexistent pocket.

"I promise!" she says happily.

Zuko sighs. He should have known better.


	2. Sleep

**ARC 1: The Promise of Peace**

**DAY 2: Sleep **

* * *

It's raining outside in thick heavy sheets, thunder rumbling across the sky every so often. The air is humid, Zuko is sticky with sweat and restless. He tosses and turns, kicking sheets off. His left arm throbs with a burn from Azula (she's half his age and twice as good at firebending). His eyes burn, but Zuko is a prince and so he swallows the lump in his throat and buries his head in a pillow (he won't think about the look on his father's face when Azula won the fight).

Lightning flashes and there is a squeak of terror.

"Who's there?!" he calls, leaping out of bed.

He imagines taking down an assassin and how proud Dad would be if he did. Instead, Princess Katara appears at the foot of his bed.

She's dressed in a white shift that makes her look more like a little ghost than a girl. Under one arm, she clutches the stuffed turtle-duck from his mother (it's singed on one wing because Azula was the one supposed to be giving the gift).

"What are you doing here?" he demands (he's rather tired of little sisters right now).

"I'm scared." She says and crawls into his bed.

"You can't stay here!" Zuko cries, "You're a girl!"

He pulls her out of the bed by her skinny ankles.

"I'm lost!" She says, turning those big blue eyes on him, "I can't find Sokka and the halls are too scary."

Zuko sighs, rooting around for his tunic (he's not even going to try arguing with her right now). He pulls in on and then lights a tiny flame.

"Let's find Sokka." He tells her.

He makes sure to take her hand (Azula sometimes ends up in his room, terrified of a monster or a dream or Dad, and she likes to hold hands). Katara seems to appreciate it too and doesn't burst into tears this time (Zuko never wants to see that happen again).

They pad into the hall and he guides her past various rooms. Her grip grows weaker and weaker until he realizes that she's asleep on her feet. Zuko puts out his flame and lifts Katara in his arms. She doesn't smell like Azula, but rather, a lot like rain. And cookies. Even so, she hugs him around the neck (just like Azula) and he carries her to Sokka's room.

It takes five minutes for Sokka to answer the door, but he doesn't seem surprised to find the two of them waiting there. The eight year old yawns, tucks his boomerang back in his belt, and tells Zuko to bring her right in. The prince navigates the various piles of clothing strewn about (and sharp weapons) and deposits Katara on the bed.

"Does she do that a lot?" he asks.

Sokka shrugs, pulling a blanket over his little sister.

"There was a storm for a week after our mom died," he says, "She's been scared of them since then."

Zuko can't imagine what it be like to lose a mother (dad says the loss of his wife is why Chief Hakoda accepted the treaty). He touches Katara's hair and looks at her brother. Sokka glares at the ground, arms crossed. The princess wakes up before they have a chance to say anything else.

Sokka hops in bed and pulls her close.

"It's okay, polar bear breath," he says, "Big brother is here."

Katara smiles faintly and then reaches for Zuko too. The Water Tribe siblings pull him onto the bed and before he knows it, he's tangled in little legs and arms. It's too warm and Sokka snores like a borqupine, but it feels right. Without a protest, Zuko buries his face in Katara's hair and drifts right off to sleep.


	3. Confession

**ARC 1: The Promise of Peace**

**DAY 3: Confession **

* * *

Zuko's not sure what he'd expected after six years, but it certainly wasn't this. Eleven year old Katara is a short gap-toothed girl who is _not_ happy to see him. She doesn't even bother to say hello when the Water Tribe ships reach the harbor; she marches straight up to him—in front of the entire guard awaiting their arrival—and jabs him in the chest, declaring _I'll never marry you!_

That sets the mood for the visit (which, ironically, is for their formal betrothal ceremony).

* * *

"_No, Sokka! I don't want to feed turtle-ducks with him!_"

* * *

He finds her by the turtle-duck pond three days into their stay (she visits it in the middle of the night to avoid him). He's surprised to find that this huffy, mockingly polite girl with budding breasts and a waterbending mastery still remembers each name and each duck (somehow, she's found out the names of the new ones too). Katara talks to them, humming foreign songs and tosses bits of bread at them.

Part of Zuko feels like he should resent her. He's fourteen, a man by Fire Nation standards, and Katara is a child. She certainly acts like one, anyway. Noblemen have petitioned for _years_ for the agreement to be broken (so they could, of course, marry _their_ daughters off) and she's been called everything from a barbarian to backwater peasant. The look she has in her eyes, when she finally realizes his presence, has him rapidly categorizing her into another category.

There is a warrior in those eyes and even a clueless fourteen year old boy can see it.

"Did Sokka put you up to this?" she hisses.

The pond water writhes angrily behind her.

"I don't want to marry you either!" he confesses.

"_What?!" _she shrieks.

Zuko realizes he has two seconds before his short pitiful life ends in ice. He grabs her hands, pulls her close. Any other girl would blush furiously, but Katara glares at him and tries to pull away.

"My cousin!" he shouts, "My cousin died!"

It confuses her long enough for him to frantically explain.

"My cousin, Lu Ten, died in the war and my uncle nearly died from sadness," he says, "and this treaty keeps people from dying. Being together will keep people from dying."

Katara stares at him. Very slowly, she pulls away. There are tears in her eyes, one hand touching the pendent at her throat.

"My mother died in the war." She says softly.

The moonlight makes her eyes glow silvery bright, the sadness in her expression reminds him more of a goddess. A moon goddess. He can see himself, taller and older, holding hands with a beautiful woman (he doesn't know how it's Katara, but only that it is). There is no sadness in their eyes; only peace and love.

She steps out of the moonlight and the moment passes. Katara is a little girl, staring at her feet.

"I'm scared of living here," she says, "Without Daddy and Gran-gran and Sokka."

"I'll make you happy," He vows, "When I'm Fire Lord we'll visit the South every year."

"Do you promise?"

Her voice in tentative, unsure. Zuko nods.

"Then I'll marry you," she declares, "For peace."

* * *

They don't notice Chief Hakoda watching from the shadows with a deep, dark sadness in his eyes.


	4. Garden

**ARC 1: The Promise of Peace**

**Day 4: Garden**

* * *

The betrothal ceremony is more hassle then it needs to be. Guilded wealth, ceremonial robes, tittering nobles, a colossal headache. Zuko pulls at his robes, ignores the look from his mother. His father ignores them both, conversing politely with Grandfather (Ozai isn't pleased to betroth his son- even his useless child- to a water tribe savage, but he'd jump into a fire if Azulon ordered it).

The Southern water tribe delegation enters the sacred chambers several moments late, Katara at their head. She's dressed in ocean blue silks, hair swept up in a grown woman's style. She looks like a little adult, a porcelain doll (not quite a moon goddess, but even Zuko will admit she's pretty). The effect is ruined when she grins and waves at them (relations between the two have been repaired with many late night visits to the turtle-duck pond). Grandfather Azulon smiles at the sight, at least one noblewoman faints at the sight of _his_ smile, and Chief Hakoda looks on grimly.

There are a lot of official speeches, stately talking, and pointless gestures (Zuko tries to pay attention, but Katara keeps making silly faces). At some point, the two stumble through some oaths and present eachother with ceremonial gifts.

Katara produces an intricately carved bone dagger, wrapped in hard leather and dyed a dark, almost black, red. She bows overdramatically and places it in his hands. Then, it's his turn to slip heavy gold-inlaid engagement comcs into her hair. There is a half-hearted cheering (mostly for Azulon's benefit) before the assembly migrates toward the ballroom for food and much needed alcohol (more than one person plans to get completely drunk). The children manage to sneak away with platefuls of sweets (though Sokka stays behind to eat).

They retreat to the garden and toss half-hearted crumbs at the turtle-ducks until the sun sets.

Katara chatters, mostly to the turtle-duck in her palm and occasionally to Zuko too.

"Katara?" he says.

She glances at him, a smear of chocolate coloring the side of her mouth and powdered sugar resting on her nose.

"I have another gift for you." he says tentatively.

"Really?!"

She sets the turtle-duck down and scoots over to him, maximum speed. Zuko feels his cheeks grow warm, but he forges on anyway. He pulls a long, thin package out from his tunic and unwraps the silk carefully.

"Sokka says you like weapons," he explains, "And you said that you need useful things in the South."

He hands her a pair of sticks. One end is sharp, like a skewer, and the other is smooth and rounded. There is stylized turtle-duck on the round end, painted in gold. Katara blinks.

"It's a hairpin," he says, "to hold your hair up."

"Zuko," she says,"It's pretty, but-

"I know, it's not _very_ useful, but if someone attacked you it's sharp enough to kill them." he explains.

She mimes stabbing and then, unexpectedly, smiles.

"You got me a secret pretty weapon," she murmurs to herself, then looks at him, "Thank you, Zuko."

She slides the pins into her hair, then leans over and kisses his cheek. His entire face feels like someone tossed a fireball at him and he stares at his feet (his father really would toss a fireball if he could see the way he acted with this water tribe peasant). Zuko takes her tiny calloused hand.

"If someone threatens you…you-you'd better hurt them right back," he warns, "Promise."

She nods solemnly, then hugs him close (he gets a face full of combs and hairpins for his trouble). Zuko sighs and wishes he could just live here, in this moment, beside a turtle-duck pond with his crazy water-tribe Katara.


	5. Sadness

**ARC 1: The Promise of Peace**

**Day 5: Sadness**

* * *

They spend her last day in the Fire Nation lounging about in Sokka's room. It's raining outside and the air is humid again. Zuko sheds his tunic and obi, pulls his hair up and away from his neck. Katara crushes him at pai sho dressed in little more than her nightgown (Sokka is too busy snoring somewhere on the floor to bother them about their lack of clothing).

"I'm glad to be going," Katara sighs, flopping onto her side, "if only to get away from this weather!"

She writhes dramatically, as if the humidity will kill her. The sticks in her hair clack against the floor and Zuko offers himself a moment of fierce pleasure (she's been wearing those turtle-duck hairpins everyday since their betrothal).

"I'm sad to see you go." he says and for the most part, it's honest (she's not the worst girl he could have been engaged to).

Katara rolls over and sits up abruptly.

"The next time I'll see you will be on our wedding day." she says.

He reminds her that it wont be for another four years (she'll be fifteen and he'll be nineteen and the thought boggles his mind). Zuko wonders who she'll be when they meet again. He wonders who_ he_ will be.

"You have to write," he says abruptly, "Promise me."

"Will you send a fancy hawk?" she asks, "And write poetry on fancy paper?"

He scowls, earning a smile from his fiancee. She shifts a tile, wins the game, and promises to write.

"I'm sad to leave you," she admits, "You're nicer than you have to be."

He doesn't mind when she says nice things, but the sharply intelligent, knowing look in her eyes reminds him of Azula (there are too many similarities between them; the possibilities of who they'll turn out to be are frightening). Zuko looks away.

"You're brattier than you have to be." he says, cocking an eyebrow.

Katara scowls, "Ooh, you wanna die, Zuko?"

She crushes him at Pai Sho again, but the subject is dropped. He doesn't think about it again until that night, watching his sister train. She's better than he is and father loves her more, but a tiny part of him wishes she was more like Katara.

Zuko turns away from the bending court and walks away slowly. He prays Katara will not become Azula.


	6. Quiet

**ARC 1: The Promise of Peace**

**DAY 6: Quiet**

* * *

The Fire Nation recedes behind them.

The ships creak comfortingly, the sun smiles down upon them. Daddy says it'll be smooth sailing all the way out of Fire Nation waters, but Katara can't bring herself to look anywhere besides the receding island in the distance. For the longest time, she could see him; a silhouette of a boy against the son. He shrinks to the size of a beetle-ant and then he's gone. The island disappears soon after.

_Four years_, she thinks. Plenty of time to grow and train and prepare herself for living in the Fire Nation. Katara touches her hairpins and wonders if she can convince Zuko to visit before then.

The palace it too quiet.

The Water Tribe delegation has been gone for six weeks (he knows to expect a letter from Katara any day now). It's been two weeks since his grandfather fell ill.

It's tombstone quiet.

There are those who wonder if Fire Lord Azulon will recover from his illness (Zuko has to pray that he will). There's never been a stronger man than his grandfather, but there's been talk of recalling Uncle Iroh from the front lines. The worried look in his mother's eyes and the opportunistic gleam in Azula's give him little peace (the latter gives him nightmares).

Zuko doesn't mention any of this in his letters to Katara (well, they've yet to become plural). He writes about the weather and stupid palace things and how badly great his training was going. He's asked about the South and the food they eat and pointless things (he'd sent a letter to Sokka too, although his sister is infinitely more mature and therefore more likely to reply).

He won't mention the lonely silence, or the way the turtle-ducks looked confused for days after she left (he swears they did). A prince of the Fire Nation shouldn't miss a Water Tribe peasant. Zuko should not have missed bratty, annoying Katara.

But he did.

He wished she were still here (or that she'd send a reply with that stupid hawk so it wouldn't be so quiet in his head for at least a moment).

Zuko sighs.


	7. Melt

**ARC 1: The Promise of Peace**

**DAY 7: Melt**

* * *

Her scrawl is childish, crude beside his elegant script. Katara tries to make up for it with enthusiasm. She sends drawings and silly stories (even a neat parcel of seal jerky carefully fastened to Hawky's leg).

Zuko is as aloof in letters as he is in person, but he tries (he sends her back a pouch of fire flakes even). They talk about the Southern Water Tribe and she tells him about fishing and hunting and how weird it is that Master Pakku is going to marry Gran-gran (Zuko thinks they're crusty old people, but it's _romantic!_). In return he tells her about Azula's knife-throwing friend and his own training (he reached a new level of firebending and begun his own weapons training) and draws a turtle-duck on every letter. Katara thinks it's goofy, but touches her own turtle-duck hairpins and draws one back each time (she plans to teach him how to draw polar bear-dogs).

She tries not to think about the increasing tenseness in the air, the dark looks her father gets every time an official news hawk reaches him. Zuko's letters begin to dwindle, until months stretch between each reply (instead of a few weeks).

His last letter has three lines, wishing her a happy birthday and good health. The tiny place of warmth and hope and growing love for Zuko, nestled right beneath her breast, melts. She feels cold and empty and scared, confused by grim tribesmen and silence from the Fire Nation.

_What happened?_ she writes back, _What did I do wrong? Are you alright? _

She never manages to send the reply, because the morning of her twelfth birthday she receives a gift in the form of the Southern Raiders appearing on the horizon.


	8. Storm

**ARC 2: A War Divides Their People**

**DAY 8: Storm**

* * *

Katara stumbles, skins her knees bloody. Its hard to force her body up again. There is a stitch in her side that she suspects is truly a burn and one arm that hangs uselessly at her side. Her ankle burns with each step and her heart hurts with the certainty that at least two of her waterbenders are dead.

It was supposed to be a safe outpost, well-defended, and her unit was only to stay a night.

A _single_ night.

But with the storm came Fire Nation soldiers.

The combined efforts of the Earth Kingdom forces and five waterbending masters could not keep them out and now, she's caught in the storm. She's not sure what's worse, the part where she is alone and bleeding or the part where there is a Fire Nation patrol right behind her.

Black spots dance before her eyes, dogs snap at her heels. She's out of water, but its snowing and desperation gives her the strength to get rid of the dogs. The soldiers should have caught up with her already (either they're too stupid to throw fire at her or…_or it's a trap_). Katara struggles down a rocky slope, but doesn't notice the huge, sprawling camp until she stumbles right into it.

It takes twenty men and a dozen ruined tents to take her down.

To her terror, they don't kill her right away (being killed in the snow would be a mercy to them—the Fire Nation isn't known for mercy). The pale faced soldiers bind her hands tightly and force a foul smelling draught down her throat (she knows a bending repressant when she tastes one). She's dragged into their largest tent and thrown before the leader.

The tent is simple, spartan. A cot to one side, a desk over-flowing with maps and papers (she makes a mental note to nick a few for Sokka). Their leader sits at a low couch, sipping tea from a metal cup. She doesn't expect him to be so young (or roguishly attractive, for that matter, with a fearsome scar that is devastatingly handsome and not quite so fearsome). His eyes are a dragon-gold that widen when they meet hers.

Maybe its her youth that surprises him. Or her gender. Or maybe that she's a pretty girl and he's got that lecherous Fire Nation bug biting at his manly bits (he wouldn't be the first to try taking advantage of her). But Katara isn't here to become some man's whore (no matter how cute) and she spits at him. Waterbenders don't miss at point blank range and sure enough, blood tinged spit splatters on his cheek. One of his men cuffs her and she misses the man's reaction (she's too busy seeing stars).

A hairpin, the battered stick with a faded turtle-duck at the end, slips out of her hair. The man, still wiping away her spit, ignores her and reaches down to pick it up. There is a long silence as he examines the hairpin.

He looks up and and recognition punches her in the chest.

Its been five years, but she'd recognize Crown Prince Zuko anywhere. She spits his name like a curse and lunges for his throat.

His men yank her back and she's slammed down to the thickly carpeted floor. Her bad arm is caught awkwardly and cracks audibly. She screams.

"Stop!" Zuko shouts, but it sounds like he's underwater.

His men leave her wheezing on the floor, half-conscious and fading fast. The prince rolls her over, wincing at her muffled whimper. Her nose is bleeding, blood streaking down one side of her face.

"Katara?" he asks softly.

She spits at him again.

* * *

Okay question time

I'm a little stuck with something.

Should there be a steambaby?

Frankly, I can't resist. And I think it'd be fun, but I want to know what you guys think. It would really affect anything until the third arc.

Depending on what you guys say (and why), I'll decide by the end of the week.

PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK (y/n?)


	9. Fight

**ARC 2: A War Divides Their People**

**DAY 9: Fight**

* * *

She doesn't expect them to bandage her wounds.

Or feed her.

In all honestly, Katara expected to be chained to a pole in the snow (if she wasn't dead or being passed around to the many leering men in the camp).

Instead, she sits before a fire with a plate of food on her lap and the prince sitting across from her. She's been dressed in a red tunic and dark pants (both of which are a little too big) and given a thick fur coat (she's annoyed that the Fire Nation is so well prepared for the terrain). Both of her hairpins rest on the prince's desk five feet away, along with the rest of her possessions. The inactivity is frustrating, but she's outnumbered three to one in this ridiculously big tent (well, she's really outnumbered with an entire camp against her one miserably injured self, but it's all about perspective).

Zuko seems content to eat and calmly watch the fire as if she isn't a threat at all. They haven't spoken since she tried to tear his throat out with her teeth (it was still worth the try, even if she didn't get very close).

The two guards stand near the door, one outside and one inside. Neither are armed, so they must be firebenders. Katara eats and watches her adversaries carefully. The storm grows worse with every hour and she must escape before it's too late.

The prince sets his food down to one side, wiping his mouth in a strange dainty way (the gesture reminds her of Lady Ursa so strongly that it _almost_ aches). Then he turns his burning eyes on her. Katara senses that it's time for the silence to end.

"What do you want with me?" she asks, setting her own food down.

"How many waterbenders were with you?" he asks, "How many survived and where are you to meet up with them?"

At least they're both being clear and to the point. She hates all the dancing around and wordplay that the Fire Nation is so fond of. This is quicker.

"And what if I don't know where they'll go?"

Prince Zuko shrugs, "I'll have my answers one way or another."

It won't matter because in five days her waterbenders will think her dead (or compromised, which is worse). They'll meet up with their rebel contacts in the nearest village and by the time ten days have passed, they could be anywhere. Ba Sing Se. Kyoshi. Caldera City itself. All she has to do is hold out until then.

"I had ten waterbenders, ten warriors," she says, "You killed fifteen and the survivors are all to meet up in Omashu by the next full moon."

He cocks an eyebrow (well, his only eyebrow). She's not very surprised; even she knows she's a terrible liar. It was still worth a try.

"My men counted six, maybe seven waterbenders," Zuko counters, "And we have three bodies."

She can't react, even as her heart burns for her companions. Three are dead and maybe one is free (if the prince can be trusted at all). She forces herself to keep eye contact, even as her mind races and decides that the moment to act is right _now_.

"Your men need to learn how to count." She says and then throws her plate of food at him.

She has a snowball's chance in hell of taking down both guards, so she leaps over the fire (singing her butt in the process) and runs for Zuko's desk. She grabs her hairpin, then dodges a rice covered prince and slides behind him. Katara clings to his ridiculously broad back, the sharp end of her hairpin resting against his throat.

"Don't move!" she snarls.

Everything stops (well, Zuko gestures for his men to stop and then everything does). Katara focuses on keeping her grip; one broken arm and too many hurts will make it easy for him to shake her off.

"Release me now," the prince says calmly, "And you won't be hurt."

"No," she says, breathing hard, "Your men will provide me with a pair of good boots, one of your fancy eel-hounds, and a week's worth of rations. I'll release you a mile from this camp, provided that all my demands have been met."

"We don't have any eel-hounds." Zuko says.

"You're a prince," she scoffs, "Of course you do."

She doesn't catch the way his face burns, but he tenses. It's then that it occurs to her that he's not wearing his phoenix tail (the mark of a prince, if she remembers correctly). She wonders what happened to the boy she once knew and this moment of thought costs her dearly.

Zuko grabs her good hand, his grip grinding the bones in her wrist together and pulling the hairpin away from his throat. He stomps at her foot, she dodges backward, breaking his grip and rearing back to stab him. She doesn't expect to bump into the desk behind her or for his elbow to follow suit. He hits her hard and she stumbles back.

Before she passes out, Katara considers that all this head abuse is going to kill her before anything else does.

* * *

She comes to with an eye swollen shut and the prince leaning over her. He's dabbing at her face with a warm cloth.

"Don't touch me." Katara hisses.

She struggles, but he's got her trussed up like a hog-llama. Her head hurts as though somebody has been kicking it in (and in retrospect, that's a pretty accurate sentiment).

"I'm sorry," the prince says, "I don't hit women."

"Don't lie to me. You don't hit women as long as it suits your agenda." she spits, glaring.

"We'll make this simple, then," the prince says, "Cooperate and I'll see to it that you're treated well. Refuse to do so and things will get very nasty."

Katara growls at him.

"I'll escape and you'll be sorry when I do." she says.

They stare at each other.

"What happened to you?" she finally asks.

Zuko is incredulous. "Me?" he says, "You've become a rebel!"

"Your soldiers kill my people, rape our women, and kill our benders," she says, voice low and burning with indescribable anger, "It's either fight the occupation or lie down and die."

His eyes narrow. She bares her teeth at him like a wolf, struggling against the ropes (part of him acknowledges that she'd be trying to kill him right now if she weren't restrained).

"You can do whatever you'd like to me," she swears, "But I'll fight you until my dying breath, Zuko of the Fire Nation."

He says nothing, because he doesn't want to fight her. When he looks at Katara's blue eyes, he sees a little girl with sticks in her hair hugging a stupid boy beside a turtle-duck pond.

Zuko leaves the tent and she shouts curses after him.

* * *

Okay, overwhelming response was in favor of steambaby.

In case you didn't already know, a steambaby is a baby from a Firebender and Waterbender. In the ATLA fandom, it usually means a Zutara baby.

To specify, as many of you have questions, a steambaby won't dramatically change the story. I didn't specify whether the baby would happen at the end or now. I just asked whether there should be one or not. To my readers who worried I say this: DON'T WORRY. I understand your concern and no, I'm not planning on using a baby as a reconciliation device (that's kind of cheap if not used correctly) and my plan was a little different. Just trust me because if all goes well, this will be awesome! :3

Also:

This story is mostly canon (with the exception of zutara and the fact that I'm seriously messing around with the timeline). So yes, Zuko was more or less banished by the start of the second arc. Azulon is dead, the treaty is null, and Ozai is the Fire Lord. Much change, etc. It's been roughly five years, in case you didn't catch it (it was a single line in chapter 8, so don't worry if you missed it).

I enjoy all of your reviews, so keep sending 'em!


	10. Legend

**ARC 2: A War Divides Their People**

**DAY 10: Legend**

* * *

There's not much to do.

A storm rages outside, wind howling and screaming and shouting. Katara has been tucked into an empty tent, a thick canvas piled tent with a thick carpeted floor and a little fire in the center. She's not guarded, because her tent connects to a larger one (she's imprisoned in the Prince's private tent and that's a little concerning, all things considered). Only an idiot would sneak out into a raging storm with broken limbs and a lousy cold (one of her legs is tied to the thickest tent pole because she's already managed to prove her idiocy).

With all that said, there is _literally_ nothing to do.

She's been in this tent for almost a day now, judging from the meals and the bending suppressant they forced down her throat again (its potency seems to last the better part of a day and that's something she hopes to take advantage of at some point). Each day they keep her here is another that her last waterbender is free. Unless they've already caught him. Katara won't think about that.

She doesn't know why they haven't questioned her yet. There has been food, healing, and solitude, but no torture, hurt, or questioning. Maybe they're trying the isolating angel (the psychological battle is half of extracting information from enemy agents). Katara finds this funny. Maybe they'll keep this up for another day and give her a chance to escape. She reconsiders this and decides that she feels funny.

Really funny.

In a bad way.

It's been a steady, creeping feeling. Achiness in her bones, easily attributed to the rigors of battle and capture; fever, she assumed it was a cold. Sometimes colds got worse. Worse than just bad.

Katara had a feeling this was one of those cases.

* * *

The next few days are blurry. There are a series of faint impressions. Gold eyes. A healer's warm hands. Shouting. Sweat, and _spirits it's too hot, stop!_ Chills. Strong arms lifting her against a broad chest, the smell of smoke and spice, and his voice in her ear whispering comforts. She's plunged into icy water and the blue light blocks everything out. Katara surrenders to it, sinks into a deep, comforting sleep.

* * *

She's pleasantly warm, cocooned in soft blankets. The smell of fire and smoke and sweat makes her think of home. Katara sighs. She opens her eyes, expecting Gran-gran and finds Prince Zuko instead.

She tenses.

"I won't hurt you." He says as if she is a small animal.

The fire flickers behind them. Katara feels weak and small, considers rolling over and ignoring him.

"You've been sick for a long time." He tells her.

This interests her. Voice hoarse, she asks him how long.

"You had a terrible fever for the better part of a week," he explains, "It was so bad the healer expected you to die."

She takes a mental count of herself. Both arms work, both legs, and hands, and everything. Her body is achy from the illness, but she's been healed. Katara narrows her eyes (only one of her healers could have fixed her).

"We put you in a tub of water and you healed yourself. The fever broke that night," Zuko says as he pokes at the fire, "It appeared that one of your wounds had been infected."

She sags with relief. If she healed herself, then that means her one surviving waterbender is safe. Gone. Free.

"He's out of your reach," she whispers as her eyes close, "He's safe."

* * *

Calloused, warm hands stroke her hair. Her head rests on another's knees, her nose is clouded with the smell of spice and smoke. A low, raspy voice whispers a story she once heard from a prince's mother.

"And they say, that when the time is right and the stage is set, the Avatar will return to the world."

"Do you think the Avatar will return?" she whispers.

She opens her eyes and finds her head in prince Zuko's lap. She should be surprised, she should jerk away, but Katara sighs softly. His hand hesitates for a moment, but the prince continues stroking her hair as she is his lover and not his enemy.

"I think the Avatar is gone." he admits, softly.

"Sokka believes that," she says, "But I hope that one day….he'll return and save the world."

There is a silence as Zuko considers his words.

"What if we don't need the Avatar," he says, "What if the Fire Nation is supposed to rule the world?"

Katara sighs. "Do you think a world in which I will be imprisoned for being a waterbender is just?"

And although his heart is quick to anger…Zuko doesn't want to fight. He tells her as much. The it's Katara's turn to contemplate a response.

"Why don't you wear a crown anymore?" she asks.

Zuko looks away. Katara musters her strength, lifts an arm and touches his jaw. A healer's intuition is never wrong and Fire Nation or not, she was once friends with this stupid prince (at some point, she'll come to her sense and regret this, but it hasn't happened _yet_).

"You can tell me, Zuko." she says softly.

He sighs and settles in to tell her another story (little do they know it will become a legend in it's own right some day)

* * *

**[a/n]:** Life got in the way and pretty much this chapter sucked. Sorry, I wasn't able to develop this part as much as I had hoped.


	11. Touch

**ARC 2: A War Divides Their People**

**DAY 11: Touch**

* * *

Katara recovers in Zuko's little tent, sleeping and listening to the wind howl outisde; reminiscing with the man that is quickly becoming her friend again. With the horror of his banishment clear between them, it feels as though the floodgates have been opened. It's easier to talk, easier to relax. It's almost too easy to forget his allegiances and think of him as her childhood prince instead.

They swap stories, tales of Azula, a frightening prodigy, and his uncle, who despite tumultuous years has stood beside him all the while (Zuko tells her that he's waiting in a nearby village and she wonders if she'll escape before they have a chance to meet). Katara regales him with Sokka's many adventures and Gran-grans vast cooking expertise (and sarcasm; yes, it runs in the family). And yet, there is a sad undertone, the vagueness of certain tales and quiet silences that hide secrets they cannot share.

* * *

A week passes in this fashion and then two, each one as comfortable as the last.

* * *

All things considered, Katara is surprised that it doesn't happen sooner.

They're reminiscing over the fire together one evening (the one thing Katara can do without trying to rip his throat out) and Zuko makes a wild gesture (she never remembers what the subject was, only that his face had never been more animated).

His hand comes to rest on her thigh, instead of on his own (they hadn't even realized they'd moved so closely together).

Zuko doesn't realize what he's done until until his companion falls silent.

They stare at his hand.

Katara reels from the sudden stomach dropping, muscle clenching realization that Zuko is gorgeous (handsome, attractive, beautiful) and then their lips are touching.

Katara sighs into his mouth, as if kissing him _at last_ is such a relief. He pulls her closer, until she's straddling him and her heart is pressed up right against his own so tightly they practically beat together.

"I don't hate you." she admits, touching the hollow of his throat.

"I could never hate you." he murmurs, worming his way into her tunic.

They don't talk much after that, shedding layers and layers of clothing as they go. Katara tries to lose herself in the feeling of Zuko's mouth against her neck and his hands slipping down her hips. He won't be the first man she's been with, but something tells her to stop this, to take this back, to prevent the disaster that this will become. Katara pulls back.

"We shouldn't be doing this." she whispers.

Zuko kisses her jaw as if she has not spoken.

"Stop." she says, pushing him away.

Zuko blinks and he begins to shake off that half-lidded lethargy that has gripped them both. She wants to tell him that this is wrong, that they're fire and water and not friends—but something powerful and raw and special, something she worries is love, is surging through her and drowning everything else out.

"Katara?" he asks, eyes clear with concern.

She considers who they are.

Prince and Chief's Daughter. Zuko and Katara. Firebender and waterbender. Man and woman. Fate says they should be apart and her heart says something different.

She teeters on a precipice, this is not a light choice. They can't come back from this, she will never be able to forget the sensation of his hands ghosting over her skin, his mouth against hers.

"Katara, are you alright?" Zuko says.

She touches his swollen lips and realizes that she wants this despite everything that dictates otherwise. Katara falls over the precipice as if there was never a choice to begin with.

"Shut up." she says and pulls him down with her.


	12. Frozen

**ARC 2: A War Divides Their People**

**DAY 12: Frozen**

* * *

"Come on," he says, "You and I could use a bath."

He leads her out of the tent that has been her prison for weeks. Katara leans against him, weak and fragile (Zuko's enthusiasm in bed has certainly not helped recovery much). The large tent, which she has confirmed as his commanding tent, is empty. An ornate, dragon clawed tub rests near the fire pit. It's filled with what looks like slushy water (Katara represses a sigh).

"You had your men lug _that_ all the way out here?" she says.

Zuko has the decency to look embarrassed. "It's my uncle's." he admits.

Katara _hmpfs_, but argues no further (a bath is a bath, she reasons, even if that damn suppressant makes it impossible to escape using said bathwater). She sheds her clothing and forces herself to plop right into the freezing water.

"Hold on." Zuko says, working at his own belt.

He sticks a hand into the water and the temperature instantly begins to rise. Katara is hit with a sudden realization; she finally _sees_ the light (_this_ is what the Fire Nation was talking about when they meant spreading greatness—a Firebender in every tub!). She sighs in relief.

"I change my mind," she groans, "Keep me, I am your willing slave."

Zuko snorts, but slaps imaginary cuffs around her proffered wrists anyway.

"Too late," he says, shedding his own clothing, "I've already seduced you and stolen your will away."

It's Katara's turn to snort, which she does, and then pulls him into the tub with her. It takes a little adjusting and wiggling, but before long she's resting on his chest and just about dying from the luxury of a hot bath. She sighs again and admits that she's going to need Firebending bath servants (Zuko growls and proves that he's the only bath servant she's _ever_ going to need).

* * *

They don't say _I love you _for a lot of reasons. Sleeping with someone for a few weeks is far too short a time to be "_in love_." Besides, they're fire and water and they've been over this a dozen times. She doesn't love him and he can't love her.

Instead, Katara whispers to him, _I don't hate you_, and he kisses the top of her head in return.

* * *

After various water acrobatics, they migrate back to their smaller tent—warm, clean, and ready to snuggle. Katara finds herself telling a silly story about a pair of nomads she once met near Omashu (she doesn't tell him that this was a year ago, when she led a force of warriors and benders that would eventually topple the occupation in the city and deal a serious blow to the Fire Nation).

"There was this song they sang about these two lovers," she says, "Who eventually became the first Earthbenders, Oma and Shu."

Belting the song out proves to be far funnier, although it has the unintended side effect of prompting Zuko to make ridiculous tunnel innuendos…that unfortunately work, because she succumbs to his awkward charms and sleeps with him against her better judgment. Much later, when the fire is low again and the afterglow has faded, he asks her to tell the whole story.

"Are you sure?" she asks.

"Yes." He says, voice serious and quiet.

She stares at the thick walls of their tent for a long time. So long, she thinks Zuko must have fallen asleep. But he prompts her again and she reluctantly begins.

_The two lovers met on top of the mountain that divided their villages_, she says, _the two villages were enemies, so they could not be together._

_But their love was strong and they found a way._

_The two lovers learned Earthbending from the badgermoles and became the first Earthbenders. They built elaborate tunnels so they could meet secretly. Anyone who tried to follow them would be lost forever in their labyrinth._

_One day, the man didn't come. He'd died in the war between the two villages. _

_Devastated, the woman unleashed a terrible display of her earthbending powers. She could have destroyed them all, but instead she declared the war over. Both villages helped her build a new city together, where they could all live in peace. _

_The woman's name was Oma_ _and the man's name was Shu. _

_The great city was named Omashu as a monument to their love. _

After a pause, Katara adds her own part of the story.

"When I visited the ruins, buried deep within a mountain pass, I found a statue of a man and woman kissing. There was an inscription below it that said _Love is brightest in the dark_."

"I don't think there are any monuments in our future." Zuko says, voice low and bitter.

Katara grows still in his arms, heart frozen in her chest. She knows, just as he does, that there will not be a happy ending to their story. It's something she tries not to think about, but that hurts all the same. And because she cannot tell him anything else, cannot promise what she cannot give, she whispers _I don't hate you_ and chokes back tears.

Zuko, who cannot offer any more comforts than she can, says nothing. He kisses away her reluctant tears and holds her until they sleep.

They don't bring up the subject again, but it's already too late.

It's been too late for a long time.

* * *

**[a/n]:** Unfortunately, I've been rather vague in this story. When it's finished, I hope to go back and re-write/edit/fix many of the errors that plague this draft (Zutara months and daily life don't really give me much time to run a comb through my writing). Until then, here's an fyi: Zuko has been banished. Readers have decided there will be a steambaby, but I can't tell you when/where it will happen, and Zuko's force is currently stationed in the mountains. They've been snowed in for weeks, but good planning means everybody has warm tents and food, instead of dying of starvation (aka, Zuko plans well for the mountains).


	13. Candles

**ARC 2: A War Divides Their People**

**DAY 13: Candles**

* * *

With the snow melting and his men preparing for travel, there is a lot to consider.

There are far too many things between them.

Katara's involvement in the war and his own conflicting feelings, have muddled everything up (something tells Zuko that marrying a Water Tribe savage and having her bear his children will not end his banishment anytime soon). He should interrogate her and yet he makes love to her night after night. He doesn't struggle for answers or vital information (though he knows practically every stupid thing Sokka has done in his entire life).

Part of him is eager to see the end of this stormy detour, but this silent bubble of contentment will only last as long as they are stranded in the mountains.

Zuko finds himself praying for more snow.

* * *

In the chaos and commotion of packing, nobody has remembered to administer her bending suppressant. Katara can hardly believe her luck. She feigns sleep for hours in an effort to remain out of sight and out of mind (which is not so difficult after all, overwhelming exhaustion still drops in on her from time to time) and amazingly, it works.

She's almost sad to go. Zuko has spoken so long and at such great length about his Uncle that she is almost eager to meet General Iroh herself. And yet she knows she will never escape is she stays that long (surely someone will remember her presence at some point). She fears she won't have the will to escape much longer; sometimes she wonders if anything really exists outside of the two tents that have been her entire world for weeks (for so long she's been fighting so hard; it's so easy to forget the strain and be with Zuko).

Katara touches her necklace and reminds herself of why she must fight.

* * *

At some point, she actually drifts off to sleep. When she wakes again, Zuko is meditating by the fire. A dozen candles surround him, each growing and shrinking steadily with his breathing.

Firebending is so different, she thinks, just like everything else about them. His strength comes from his breath, hers depends on the cycles of mother moon. And yet she is _so_ tired of thinking in terms of black and white, fire and water, Fire Nation and Water Tribe.

Katara slips out of the blankets and goes to Zuko because she knows this will be their last night. Tonight she will escape (or she will be in chains and her freedom will be lost forever).

Katara straddles him, breaking his trance. He doesn't seem surprised.

"Everything will change." he says, as if she is reading his mind.

"We have right now." she tells him, drawing his mouth down for a kiss.

He hesitates. Indecision is clear on his face. It makes her sad to know that he has been feeling this too, the realization that this perfectness cannot last outside their little tent.

"Zuko," she says, and repeats his name until he looks at her, "Right now, there is no war. Right now, there is no Fire Nation or Water Tribe. Right now, there is you and I and spirits help me, but _I love you_."

There are tears in her eyes (she thinks there might be some in his too).

"Katara," he says, and his voice is so full of pain, "We can't do this."

But she doesn't care, kissing him hard on the lips (telling the truth has made her giddy and defiant and she feels like she could take down a dozen men and still carry Zuko home for supper).

"Do you love me?" she asks.

He doesn't even try to lie. "Yes." he says, returning her kisses with bruising fervor and then they don't need words anymore.

They have the presence of mind to blow out the candles, but little else. Their love making is more like fighting, but it seems inconsequential at the moment (though they will both hurt tomorrow and smile at the memory in the days to come). Their second time is softer, more passionate (they don't bother keeping their voices down on this final night in the mountains); the third is quiet and slow, shallow thrusts coupled with soft admissions of love and _yes, right there, Zuko_.

And yet, it all comes to an end.

* * *

Katara lies awake, long after Zuko's limbs have stilled and his breathing has steadied. He murmurs her name from time to time in his sleep and it knocks the breath out of her chest each time. She thinks about how tomorrow night, when she will sleep alone and far away from the shelter of his arms (she doesn't cry).

Katara forces herself to rise out of the bed, don her clothing (though she wears Zuko's shirt because her's is lying on the floor in pieces). She rummages through the trunks of his belongings, settled temporarily at the farthest edge of the tent, and unexpectedly finds her things. Katara laces on her boots, pulls her Water Tribe tunic over Zuko's. She leaves her turtle-duck hairpins at the top of the trunk (he'll find them in the morning; leaving him something in lieu of a goodbye is better than nothing at all).

She adds a log to the fire, pulls blankets over her prince. She blows him a kiss, then falls into a bending stance.

Long distance bending is not easy, but Katara will force her body to obey. She conjures up a fog, sags from the sudden exhaustion. Her stomach flips and she fights back nausea (an unexpected reaction, but there is no time to worry about it). The guard outside the tent is disarmed with a quick water whip and she steps outside. Katara is kind enough to drag the guard inside, instead of leaving him to hypothermia. She is quickly on her way.

The snow is slushy beneath her boots and the moonlight shines through the fog (she hasn't seen the moon in longer than she can remember). Katara bends a path clear of snow and quickly makes her way past the camp and through the hundred yards to the tree line.

Katara has no food and no mount, she is weakened and heartbroken, but she is free. She grins, prepares herself for a rigorous hike and—

A sentry sounds the alarm.

She jumps, whirls, but there is no sentry remotely near her. The man's shout is cut off mid-sentence. Katara disperses the fog.

She expects Earth Kingdom forces, maybe Water Tribe warriors, _anybody_ who would have been a friend and ally.

She finds bandits instead.

Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, even a vaguely looking Water Tribe man stalk through the camp. Weapons gleam in the moonlight, one man is pulling a woman out of a tent and covering her mouth before she has a chance to scream (they spare her, but slit the throat of her male companion).

Bandits. Mercenaries. Rapists (there is only reason they'd spare a woman solider).

Katara turns her back on the forest and her freedom and screams her battle cry. She thinks of Zuko, asleep and vulnerable in their tent, and leaps into battle.


	14. Dynamic

**ARC 2: A War Divides Their People**

**DAY 14: Dynamic**

* * *

Zuko is up and into his trousers before he's truly awake. Katara's scream rings in his ears, panic shoots through his chest at the realization that the tent is empty.

He pulls on his boots, leaps out the door and runs straight into a scruffy Earth Kingdom looking man. There is blood on his sword and cold anger in his eyes. There is no hesitation when the stranger attacks, either. Zuko dodges to the right, roasts the man with a blast of Firebending. He spares the body a moment, but turns his attention elsewhere very quickly.

His soldiers are stumbling out of their tents, armed to the teeth and moving as they have been trained. They engage their surprise attackers and Zuko is confident in their abilities. He wades through the fighting and screaming and death and finds Katara right in the center of it. Zuko stops short. He's never seen Katara bend offensively.

She's a terror.

Water dances around her, tinged with blood and slurry, like a deadly octopus and she is its master. Men attack and she whirls, ice and water leap to block and parry and kill. Zuko is so entranced he almost gets impaled.

"Stay still, will ya?!" his would be killer shouts.

It's an Earth Kingdom man, chewing at a stalk of grass and wielding twin hook swords. Zuko's own swords rest safely on top of his chests in the tent, precious Dao swords that he should have taken the time to retrieve. He firebends, forcing his opponent back and giving himself a few precious moments. The Earth Kingdom man disperses the fire with his blades and nearly slices off a limb.

Then, as if Agni has answered his prayers, one of his lieutenants shout.

"Here, sir!" she says, "Catch!"

Dual swords come flying through the air. Zuko catches them easily and sends a maelstrom at his opponent. The man curses, dodges, and emerges relatively unharmed. The two tangle swords, slashing and parrying and whirling.

The Earth Kingdom man is steadily cursing through their battle and Zuko has a hard time paying attention (there's something in him that needs to be beside Katara _now_).

In the end, it's Katara that finds him.

She surges between them, flinging men and weapons out of her bath. Zuko's opponent takes a step toward her, reaches out with his hook sword and then he's gone, flung away with a tsunami of water. There is a surprised shout and then the man crashes into a particularly rough patch of fighting.

"Are you alright?" she asks.

It's as if another woman is wearing her face, a warrior with fierce eyes and a grim mouth. It's stupidly arousing that this storm fueled woman has stopped to ask _him_ if he's alright.

Zuko manages to blather something, but catching sight of the gash of her cheek forces his mind elsewhere.

"Are you hurt?" he says.

She shrugs, drawing more water from the slush around them. The liquid shivers, ready and willing to leap to the bidding of it's mistress.

"Zuko," she says and the Katara he knows surfaces for a brief moment, "I have to leave. You know that."

He swallows. Zuko should fight her, he should force her into chains. Azula would do it easily. Father would be proud, ecstatic even, if he presented Hakoda's daughter as his prisoner and personal concubine. He might even get to go home.

He staggers a single step forward, arm out-stretched to bend and then he stops. Panic blooms in his chest.

"I can't let you escape." his voice says from faraway.

She smiles sadly. "I know."

Katara attacks first.

A water whip moves through the air. His limbs, numb and clumsy, reach up to block. Steam. He fires back at her and she disperses it easily. They fight as in slow motion, as if he cannot believe that his happening. Something clicks and the world suddenly speeds up. He strikes and she blocks; she leaps and he follows.

They move in synch, trading brutal, balanced, equal blows. It's breathlessly exhilarating, like making love to her, only more aggressive and dynamic and perfect. They fight like demons and Zuko has never felt more alive. Katara smiles and he knows that she feels the same.

Except that he doesn't expect her to freeze his feet.

One moment, she stands before him and the next, Zuko sees stars. He wakes to a quiet night and knows that she is gone. She has abandoned him.

And yet he is surrounded by a stiff lattice of ice spears that extend in every direction for a least ten feet. Katara has hampered his pursuit, but all he can think of is one Water Tribe warrior constructing the only defense she knows around his prone body. She could have killed him, she could have left him to the mercy of their attackers and yet she didn't.

He'll never have a chance to thank her (or to kiss her goodbye). Zuko buries his face in his hands and swears that he will find her again.

* * *

Katara has run for hours.

Miles of rock and forest have crept by beneath her frantic boots, slapped at her aching feet. The sun is peeking over the mountains when she finally stops to rest.

She sits beside a racing river and heals her blistered feet. The journey she will make over the next few days will replace those blisters tenfold, but Katara does not think of this.

She fights back tears and nausea, exhaustion and freedom has come at such a great price she can hardly bear it.

She vomits beside the river, stomach heaving violently, painfully. At first, she thinks it must be her grief …or perhaps the toll of battle (this isn't the first time she's vomited after a fight). Maybe this is the last vestiges of her illness, much like the exhaustion and arching limbs that have returned to plague her.

But she can't fool herself; Katara knows better.

She touches her abdomen and tears finally break free.


	15. Treasure

**ARC 3: A Mountain Divides Them Apart**

**DAY 15: Treasure**

* * *

His stomach growls pitifully. The cut of his clothing is rough and itchy. He hates the color green and the overwhelming smell of dung and dirt and grass on the wind. The Earth Kingdom inches by and Zuko watches it all from the back of dinky cart (he hates it).

He should be grateful that a peasant farmer offered them a ride. Uncle has already promised a day's labor in return for this ride and a good meal. They will sleep safely tonight with full stomachs, they will repay it with honest labor. Zuko should be grateful, but nothing makes him more angry.

He's a prince. Or he was.

_Was_.

Now, he's a fugitive. If captured, he will be worth trunks of gold (though the sum is a fraction of what Uncle is worth) and shipped back to certain execution in the Fire Nation. Zuko has come so far and fallen so hard that three months later he's _still_ reeling from the blow (he'll never go home again and somehow he can't comprehend that).

Uncle has it easier. He seems hardly concerned that a few months ago they were royalty and today he must work for measly meal. They're dirt poor and Zuko seems to be the only one worried. He has a feeling that Katara would be excellent at this. She would charm the farmer with silly anecdotes and smile over their lousy cooking pot at the end of the day. Her body would be warm against his at night, her hand soft against his when she soothed his worries away.

Zuko misses her (he won't admit it, but sometimes she haunts his dreams and the memory of blue eyes brings tears to his own).

He pulls out her hairpin…or what's left of it. Most of his things were left behind on his sister's ship (she'd insisted that Father wanted him home, only to pull the rug out from beneath his feet and declare him a traitor to the crown) and Katara's hairpins were greatly damaged in his battle with her. One was scorched badly, the other burnt right up to the painted turtle-duck. He wears the shorter one around his neck, a small hole bored through for a thin twine to run through. The hairpins are certainly no treasure, but they're the only things he has left of her and that makes them invaluable.

Uncle starts singing in the background. Zuko hastily covers his ears (it prevents some permanent scarring, but not all). The peasant farmer obviously enjoys it and joins in; Zuko tries to hum over the racket.

He doesn't realize, until much later, that he hums the silly song about two lovers that Katara had once taught him. His chest constricts and he forces himself to pull his hands away from his ears and listen to Uncle's ridiculous song.

In the end, it hurts less.

* * *

The Southern Water Tribe has not changed much in the three years that she's been gone. The tents still look the same and the people still wear the same haggard expressions at the end of the day. They still tell the same terrible jokes. Everything that has changed is internal, hidden away from strange eyes.

The most startling change, however, is right beneath her fingertips.

She's been home for two weeks and not once has she been able to muster up the courage to tell Gran-gran that she is with child. There have been weeks and months to come to terms with this development, but Katara can't admit her own indiscretions (she's doesn't know how to tell them that her child belongs to a Fire prince).

For the time being, she's hardly showing and the bump is all too easy to hide beneath her parka. It's easy to hide her morning sickness, attribute it to a lingering cold and exhaustion from travel (Gran-gran looks at her strangely, but says nothing). But she feels ridiculous; she's come home to give birth and yet she can't even admit it.

But it's easy enough to forget in all the commotion.

Her brother and grandfather arrive days after her, relaying orders to move the tribe north. Her father is somewhere along the south-western coasts of the Earth Kingdom, but he'd sent them specifically to escort his people north. Katara argues vehemently against it. She doesn't care that they're right, that the Northern Water Tribe _is_ more isolated, _is_ stronger. Sokka promises that they will return when the war ends, but Katara cannot leave the South. Will not leave the South.

She knows she should; the baby would be much safer in the North. But she can't make that decision. She's waiting for something.

She's not sure what or why, but there is an indisputable feeling that she _needs_ to be here. Right now. Right here.

Something is going to happen. Something special. Something _right_.

Katara doesn't expect to find it waiting for her in the ice.


	16. Switch

**ARC 3: A Mountain Divides Them Apart**

**DAY 16: Switch**

* * *

To say that joining the Avatar is a minor change in plans is an understatement. It requires a switch, a change, a complete overhaul of _everything_ and every plan they've ever had.

Within days of finding the little airbending boy in the ice, Fire Nation ships appear on the horizon (they quite figure out how they found out so quickly, but Sokka thinks it might have been the huge, obvious light that took up just about the entire horizon). Grandfather Pakku takes one look at the Fire Nation banners and orders the entire trip to leave immediately. The Water Tribe slips away in the night, leaving Katara and Sokka to care for the little boy (they draw away the Fire Nation fleet and nearly die in the process, which defeats the purpose, but they made it out alright anyway…so no harm, right?).

By the time they leave for the Earth Kingdom, the South is empty and Katara is the only one who watches it recede into the distance. Sokka pours over maps and reports, Aang looks back at her from time to time with a goofy smile (he's so small and sweet and eager to please). Only Katara feels the difference.

She and her brother have left the South again and again; this is no different than sailing away in a boat. But something _is_ different, something she doesn't know yet.

Fate called her home to deliver her child, only to deposit an Avatar in her waiting arms. Fate tells her to look back and savor the last sight of her homeland, she makes sure to look back because she doesn't know if she'll ever return. Maybe she won't. Maybe her life will never the same again (which is kind of an understatement, because nothing will ever be the same after Zuko).

"When do we start my training?!" Aang bounces beside her.

He's quick like that, bald-headed and gray eyed and light as the clouds themselves (and just as quiet when he wants to be). She offers him a smile, but it's hard. All of her smiles are tinged with sadness these days (and they will be for a long time, she thinks)

"As soon as we reach the Earth Kingdom." she says.

"Maybe we won't have to go there right away," he says, "I can't wait to show you guys the Southern Air Temple!"

Katara's smile dies. She doesn't know how to tell him.

Sokka glances at her from his side of saddle and gestures, _tell him the truth_. But Katara can't. She can't take that smile away from his face. Not yet (in a way, she thinks that fate made a good choice sending this boy into her life; he'll be in good hands because Katara will die before she sees this strange little boy hurt, Avatar or not).

"Katara?" Aang says.

"Yes," she says, snapping back to herself, "I can't wait to see it."

He grins and launches into the fourth description of it's magnificent awesomeness (or so he says). Her heart hurts for him and for the moment, she'll hold onto that feeling. Better than inflicting it upon him so soon.

Sokka shakes his head and turns back to his maps.

* * *

It's truly a measure of how far they've fallen.

Uncle begging. Singing for money. Sitting beside the road with hands out asking for assistance.

Zuko wants to die from the shame, scream at the men and women who disrespect his Uncle with pitiful looks and rude words (well, he actually wants to kill the man with Dao swords who thought it'd be funny to force an old man to dance for a single gold coin thrown at his feet). It's all he can do to sit through the hours that follow, fume and rage until night falls.

He creeps away from their camp on the outskirts of the city, shakes away the ropes that bind prince Zuko, Zuko the fugitive, Zuko the peasant, every Zuko that ever was. For a night, he's the Blue Spirit. He's free.

No. He's the shadows; the darkness itself. Safe behind a fearsome visage and sharp swords (stealing them from the man who'd forced Uncle to dance was fitting enough—at least he didn't kill the man), he leaps from rooftop to rooftop, roaming where it pleases him.

And because the Blue Spirit is not the messenger of justice (no matter what they say about Commander Zhao's fortress burning to the ground, allowing crucial Water Tribe prisoners to escape into the night), because Zuko no longer cares about anybody besides the old man who sleeps on the edge of the city, because he's tired of having nothing, he steals.

Food, clothing, Ostrich horse feed. Money, a fancy teapot for Uncle Iroh, a necklace with blue gems and white diamonds that belonged to the Mayor's daughter. He decides it would look better on darker skin and takes it with him (the Blue Spirit does not concern himself with whether he'll ever find Katara again, he wraps the necklace around his wrist where he will always see it).

Maybe she wouldn't approve of the Blue Spirit. Maybe Uncle wouldn't approve.

Maybe Zuko doesn't care.


	17. Vague

**[a/n]: **I realize I've been dreadfully vague about events in this story, so Katara's part for today will largely be quick shorts that will give you guys an idea of what's going on. Major time skip, but hopefully it will clear up some stuff. Zuko will mope, as usual. This time, though, he has a girl who'd like to mope with him.

* * *

**ARC 3: A Mountain Divides Them Apart**

**DAY 17: Vague**

* * *

She finds herbal tea in her pack, the special kind she'd been brewing in secret at home. It helps with exhaustion and nausea (which turns out to be extremely valuable in one was journeying via Sky Bison). Except that Katara didn't put this in her pack.

Which means that Gran-gran knew the entire time.

* * *

Katara reluctantly removes her parka. It's been too hot to wear it for days now. She takes a deep breath, calms herself. Her bump is visible, straining against a spare dress that is several years too young for her (she curses her lack of clean laundry, but they haven't stopped to rest in _days_). With enough luck, Sokka won't notice. He's clueless enough. Katara prays that he will be just this once.

She slides down Appa's tails, trailing an affectionate hand through his fur. She can do this.

"Hey, Katara," Sokka says, examining a map with a piece of jerky in his mouth, "Would you mind—_for the love of spirits!"_

He chokes on his jerky. Katara sighs and gives his back a few good whacks.

"Who do I have to kill?" he sputters.

"Nobody," she says, "It was my mistake. I'm going to handle it."

"It takes two to—

"Sokka!"

She whacks him again.

"What's wrong with Sokka?" Aang asks, returning from the nearby stream.

His head is freshly shaved, though his clothing could use some washing (Katara doesn't need a baby to act motherly, she realizes). His eyes fall on her stomach (the dress must be much tighter than she thought).

"Are you gonna have a baby?" he asks, all innocent and wide-eyed (she swears, sometimes it's an act).

"Yes, Aang." she admits, glaring at her brother.

Sokka starts to sputter again.

* * *

He gives her a funny look every time she wears the tighter dress (which is every laundry day). Shooting water at him stops it quick enough (though Aang says he still does it when she can't see).

* * *

"No, really. Who do I have to kill?"

She freezes him to a tree.

* * *

"So, _preggers_," the snotty Earthbending girl drawls, "Who's the daddy?"

They fight and she freezes Toph in a block of ice. Aang's earthbending teach refers to her with a variety of equally insulting names, but never repeats that one.

They become tentative friends.

* * *

Sometimes, Katara feels like people focus more on her baby then they focus on her. It doesn't matter what kind of vague answer she gives them, they want a name, a nationality, the _boot size_ of the man she slept with.

Katara could destroy an entire village, given the right amount of water. She was a Master bender at the age of ten, teacher to the Avatar himself. She's fought in countless battles, killed men and captured cities for the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation would take pleasure in torturing her, if not for information, then in revenge for being the wolf bit the Dragon's tail.

And yet all anybody wants to know is who the father is. Even gentle, sweet, lively Aang wants to know. Even Toph, _even_ the cabbage man three villages over!

She doesn't see how it's any of anybody's business and she says that.

They don't stop asking.

* * *

In retrospect, visiting a library in the middle of a desert was a bad idea. But hindsight is always twenty-twenty, right? At any rate, Katara has more to worry about.

She gathers Toph to her side, pulls Sokka along behind her. Momo chatters somewhere behind her and all Katara can think of the oppressing heat. Her mouth is dry. Her feet hurt. Her back is sore, belly heavy. They have to get out of this desert.

The baby kicks, as if he agrees, and she forces herself to smile when she would rather cry.

"We'll get out of this," She tells them, "I promise."

Aang appears, sullen and upset. She strings him along and pulls her friends (brothers, sisters, sometimes it feels like they're her children) through the desert.

* * *

She almost screams when they decide to escort the pregnant woman through the Serpent's Pass. Katara is almost eight months pregnant and Aang wants to _what_?! Let alone the fact that the woman herself is _about to pop_.

But in the end, her better nature kicks in (perhaps her better nature is the abandonment of reality?)

They escort the couple through the pass. It's a long, painful journey (mostly for her feet…and the poor pregnant woman that's _even further_ along than she is).

There are some sad moments, some hard ones. Sokka finds love again, she hopes, and three refuges find their way to Ba Sing Se. Katara focuses on those moments. On the mother smiling down at her new baby, at Suki saving Toph. She doesn't think about the new father, holding his child and thanking her profusely. She doesn't think about the small family huddled together. She doesn't think about who will be absent from the birth of her own child.

Katara holds her little family a little bit closer and they move on toward Ba Sing Se.

* * *

Jin is pretty.

Not excessively pretty. Not a little pretty. Just pretty. Not Katara, but Zuko hasn't thought of her in months. Not since they arrived in Ba Sing Se and he became a teashop boy. Not since his hours became long and his work tedious. He serves tea with Uncle. He scrapes by. Zuko survives.

Jin wants to do more than survive.

She smiles at him, chatters incessantly. It's…strange…to befriend a girl that isn't a solider or a comrade or even from his country.

She's his age, just twenty. Not married. Living with a relative, getting by in "the greatest city in the world." Though Jin really thinks it is. She thinks a lot of things are amazing. His tea. Pastries. The little fountain down the road, the vast fields that make up the outer ring. She drags him here and there, talks about this and that.

Zuko thinks he might be a little in love with her. But not like this.

Jin kneels before him, half-dressed. Her eyes are half-lidded and he's kissing her neck. She makes a sound, breath-hitching before a moan. She pulls him down over her, breasts flush up against his chest. It's not right. He can't close his eyes and pretend that Jin isn't Jin. Wishing won't make her eyes blue, skin dark, hair curly and unruly. Zuko pulls away, pulls himself off Jin before something happens that he can't take back.

"Lee," she whispers, "What's wrong?"

Jin sits, pulling her robe closed. She scoots across the thin mat that is her bed, brushing hair out of her eyes.

"Lee," her voice is louder this time, "Tell me what's wrong."

"I…Jin-I—

He's sputtering, drowning in his own embarrassment. And maybe Jin really is like Katara, because she pulls his hands away from his face, stokes them carefully.

"Is there another girl, Lee?" she asks calmly.

She's not soft, like Katara, but Jin can be gentle. For an Earth peasant, anyway.

"There was," he admits, "Before I came to the city."

"Did you love her?"

He nods. It wouldn't be right, he thinks, to tell her how much he does.

"It's okay," Jin says, finally, "I understand."

And she does, because they don't sleep together. Instead, she strokes his hair and he tells her about the blue-eyed girl that left him behind.


	18. Pieces

**ARC 3: A Mountain Divides Them Apart**

**DAY 18: Pieces **

* * *

Jin has had plenty of bad ideas.

Visiting the Avatar's zoo was, admittedly, a decent one.

Splashing around like children in a fountain at night and having the city guard called on them? Bad idea (especially considering the nasty colds they'd caught afterward).

Teaching Jin to jump from rooftop to rooftop? Bad idea (she's taken that as a personal invitation to creep into him room at all hours—even when they became just friends instead of potential lovers).

This idea, however, takes all the Fire Flakes. He just doesn't know it yet.

"They say that the Avatar's waterbending teacher is still in the city," Jin tells him over tea one night, "Her name is Katara and apparently she's the last Southern Waterbender."

The shop is closed and Uncle is in the kitchen (they've just moved into the new shop and it's still a lot to get used to). Zuko fiddles with his cup to mask the overwhelming drowning sensation.

_Katara. Here in the city._

_Here. _

"How do you know all of this?" he finally asks.

"_Well_," she drawls, "Let's just say Guardsman Kyoji and I are _awfully_ _friendly_ nowadays."

She smiles in a leery way that illustrates _exactly_ what sort of friendly things they've been doing together.

"Do I need to speak to him?" he asks.

"No, Dad." Jin rolls her eyes.

Though they are only friends, Zuko feels a sort of kinship with her. As if she is a sister, if only by virtue of being a fellow refugee, another person adrift in this war torn world.

"Anyway," she continues, "She's in the upper ring. We can find her."

He's almost too afraid to hope, but he nods. He needs to see her again.

"Tonight." he says.

* * *

He doesn't wear his mask (because it's a secret, obviously). He's just Lee, in normal clothing (he swallows down the panic that comes with thinking of himself as _just_ Lee). Jin's kind-of-boyfriend lets them through the gates, even tells them where to find the Avatar's house. He manages to look away when she "thanks" him with an overenthusiastic kiss.

Then, with all obstacles behind them, they creep through the streets.

He expects the Avatar's house to be bigger; much gaudier than it really is. It's a simple house, elegant. It lacks all the pomp and circumstance of Fire Nation affairs and Zuko finds that he rather likes that (even as he misses the over-dramatic posturing that characterized his childhood).

There is a garden behind the home and in it, they find a woman bending water in the moonlight. Zuko's breath catches in his chest. He'd know this silvery goddess anywhere.

The woman turns in his direction and he nearly falls off the roof (Jin manages to snag his tunic before he _dies_).

It's certainly Katara. She looks healthy, glowing even (if moonlight can be trusted at all). But she's going to have a baby. Very, very soon.

"She's pregnant?" Zuko sputters.

* * *

Ty-Lee glances between her mark and the strangers on the rooftop.

Princess Azula had given strict orders to watch the waterbender, but Ty-Lee _knows_ that man on the roof. Even under the moonlight, the way his body moves lithely across the shadows is eerily familiar. His companion is a complete stranger, but that hardly matters.

She leaves her post and trails the two into the night (she has a tingly feeling that says Azula will be pleased before the night is out).

* * *

Summons come from the Earth King the next day, to serve him tea! Uncle is ecstatic, proclaiming a free cup of tea for everyone that day. He scurries around the shop, offering cups even the customers that insist on paying (his tea is _that_ good). It warms Zuko's heart to see the hold man happy, but the same cannot be said for himself.

He'd hardly slept the night before, burning with questions. What if Katara's child was his? What if it wasn't? Was he mentally equipped to deal with either scenario?

Part of him desperately wants to know the paternity right away. The other part of his wants to block everything out and focus on serving tea until everything _goes_ away. But ignoring the obvious hasn't helped him in the past and it's certainly not going to help him now. He needs to see her, that much is clear (but really, more than anything, he needs to hold her close, caress her unruly curls).

Zuko promises himself that he'll find her as soon as the meeting with the Earth King is finished (he'll wait outside of her door for _days_ if he has to).

She'll be happy to see him, he tells himself, _everything_ will be better.

He's never been more wrong.

* * *

There's a lot that Katara expects. Earthquakes, the Fire Nation, venomous lizards.

Zuko isn't one of them.

When they throw him in, she's busy rubbing her belly and trying to sooth away a persistent pain in her abdomen. Pains like that are normal, expected even, but they've slowly become more and more frequent (which usually happens in the weeks before birth).

The man in green and brown rolls down the steep incline, once, twice, and then slams into a glowing crystal at the bottom. He curses, pulling himself up with a muted _oof_. The man's hair is short, uneven in a way that suggests it had been hacked off with a knife at some point. Then he looks up and Katara feels as though she's been punched.

She doesn't expect a short haired Zuko in Earth Kingdom clothing to appear in her prison. He clearly doesn't expect her either. They both stop short and stare. She says his name and the spell is broken.

They stagger to their feet, embracing each other tightly. Katara inhales deeply, surprising to smell tea and steam, instead of Fire Nation smoke and spice. She bites back her tears and looks up at him.

"I thought I'd never see you again." she says, sniffling pitifully.

He laughs unexpectedly. "Spirits," he says, "I've missed you."

Zuko kisses her, a quick touch of his mouth to hers. She smiles, but another twinge from her abdomen interrupts her words. It catches her by surprise and she staggers against Zuko.

"Where are you hurt?" he asks urgently.

"It's okay, I'm fine," she tells him breathlessly, "It's the baby."

That only serves to panic him more, "Are you having the baby?!"

"No!" she snaps, then composes herself, "Sometimes women have fake labor pains. It's normal, I'm not going into labor. Not yet."

He helps her sit against a crystal stalagmite.

"Are you sure?" he asks, hesitantly.

She nods, rubbing her belly again (she likes to think it help settles the baby). Zuko stares at the gesture, one hand outstretched. Katara reaches out, thin fingers wrapping around his wrist.

"Are you sure?" he asks again, but for an entirely different reason.

She smiles and nods. He touches the swell of her stomach. The baby kicks and Zuko's eyes nearly pop out of his head. She can't help laughing at him and the moment passes. He sits back, criss-cross (she props her feet on his lap).

"Why are you here?" she asks.

They swap stories, filling in almost nine month's worth of gaps. It takes her mind off the current predicament. Zuko slowly relaxes, even as he talks about the difficulty of his permanent banishment and life as a peasant.

"Join us," Katara offers as he winds down, "Aang needs a Firebending teacher."

Her proposal shocks him. He's never even considered…deserting the Fire nation. He's surprised Katara would even _suggest_ his willing betrayal. He flounders for a moment, then considers his own bending ability.

Zuko laughs bitterly. "Have you seen my bending?"

This confuses her.

"Zuko," she says sternly, "Your bending is amazing."

"Then you haven't met my sister." he mutters.

"I have." she reminds him, tapping his arm lightly.

He's not sure what to think. She wants _him_ to teach the Avatar? He's not worth her high estimation to begin with and he can't betray his father. Can he?

"Katara—

She puts a finger against his lips.

"Don't answer," she says, "You have a lot to think about, I understand. But consider it."

She closes the gap between them and kisses his scarred cheek. Zuko looks away.

"I wish you wouldn't do that." he murmurs.

This seems to remind her of something. She reaches around her neck and retrieves a tiny vial.

"I went home for a little while," she says, "And my grandfather gave this to me before I left. It's water from the spirit oasis in the North. The water has special properties and…and I think it might help…with your scar."

His eyes widen, indescribable hope blooms there.

"I know it bothers you," she admits, "But I might be able to heal some of it. Maybe."

"Would you?" he says hoarsely.

She nods, reaching up to touch the rough, dead flesh around his eye. Zuko imagines a face without the mark of his dishonor, a clear and smooth face. Someone worthy of standing beside Katara.

The Avatar explodes into the cavern.

Katara gasps, struggles to her feet and shouts his name. The two embrace, like a mother and a child (a child who glares at him around his mothers arm). Then his Uncle is embracing him and before he knows it, the old man is ushering Katara and the Avatar ahead. It feels as though he's blanked out for a few minutes and left reeling in the aftermath of some very important event. He manages to mutely wave to Katara as she goes.

_Find me_, she mouths and then leads the child Avatar away.

Zuko touches his scar and wonders if she really meant her words. Any of them. He watches her disappear into the darkness.

* * *

Uncle pleads frantically with him, trapped behind crystal stalagmites. Azula paces like a tiger-wolf, stepping lightly

"Decisions, decisions, Zuko," she leers, "Now it's time to make yours."

His mind races.

If he helps the Avatar defeat Azula, he'll have a chance to be with Katara and their baby (she hasn't admitted it yet, but they both know it's his). But he'll never go home. He'll slide into peasantry and obscurity (fighting against his own is unthinkable—_never_).

But if he helped his sister…

Zuko could go home, welcomed as a prince and as a hero. His honor would be restored, father would finally be happy. Everything would go back to normal (but was there room for Katara? The baby?).

"The waterbender," he asks, surprised by the urgency in his voice, "What will happen to her?"

He is struck the greatest longing to see her in red and gold, holding a son, and sitting beside the turtle-duck pond once again with her.

Azula stops short, laughing with disbelief.

"_That_ is that your price?" she asks, "Your loyalty for the pregnant bitch?"

And Uncle cries, _Zuko, No!_

Zuko sets his shoulders, steels his resolve, and makes his decision.

* * *

Lightning crackles behind her eyes every time she closes them. She sees Zuko, standing beside his leering sister. Aang falls from the sky, the sound of her own scream ringing in her ears.

They flee the Earth Kingdom and she cries bitter tears as she turns her airbender over in her arms. His lips are blue, his body limp.

Katara finds her vial of sacred water, a gift from Grandfather Pakku before they left the South. To think that she had considered using it on Zuko (she will have time for grief later; right now is for action). She draws the sacred water out and sends it glowing into Aang's wound.

It's so bad, so _terrible_ that she shouldn't hope. But she does. Katara will hope even when everything else has been lost.

Aang opens his eyes, just a fraction. His chest rises with breath, one little hand clutching at her chest. She smiles despite herself, tears streaming down her cheeks again. Aang smiles at her, then his eyes flutter close.

Then pain rips through her and she screams. She clutches the Avatar against her and fights the contraction. This one is longer, more painful, much more real. She belatedly realizes that her skirt is wet and it has been for some time (her water is broken and _spirits_,_ she's about to give birth_).

Her brother is crawling toward them, hanging onto giant clumps of Appa's fur. He's bleeding, she realizes, from a nasty slice above his eyebrow. It'll scar if she doesn't heal it soon.

"What happened?" he shouts, "Are you—

"_The baby!_" she cries, "_He's coming!_"

* * *

Everything that could have gone wrong—has gone wrong.

Everything has fallen to pieces and all they can do is stand and watch.

* * *

They land in Chameleon Bay an hour later.

Aang is gently passed down, ushered to a tent where he will recover in peace. Sokka carries his struggling sister down. Her contractions have grown stronger and closer together, but she won't be taken away.

"I need to help him!" she screams, "I can do it,_ let me save him_, Sokka!"

They both know that if the Avatar dies, the next one will instantly be reborn into the next nation in the cycle. Katara's baby could be the next Avatar and neither of them wants to see that happen. Sokka carries her into the tent with Aang, sets her on a hastily constructed bed of furs. He knows that everything that can be done, has already been done. The pieces are falling and all they can do is wait.

Chief Hakoda watches from the tent flaps, dark skin pale with shock.

His baby girl cries out in agony (she's about to become a _mother_, he tries to comprehend), his little boy who somehow became a man overnight holds her hand throughout the labor. The Avatar sleeps peacefully in the corner of the tent, the little Earthbending girl holding his hand and looking every bit of twelve years old. They're all crying, some loudly and others quietly, but there is so much heartbreak that it's all Hakoda can do to walk away and collapse somewhere along the beach.

There is _nothing_ he can do to help them and the very feeling burns at his insides the way Kaya's death still does. So useless. All of this is useless. If the Avatar dies, all of this will be for nothing. He fights back his own tears and watches the night bleed into the day.

Just as dawn touches the horizon, he hears Katara cry out again. He's suffered through the sounds again and again, but this time an infant's wail follows it.

Hakoda rushes to his feet and sprints to the tent. He bursts inside and stops short. His daughter has given birth to a baby girl, laughing and crying at the same time. The Avatar is still alive, still sleeping peacefully in the corner, chest rising and falling gently with each breath.

Suddenly they can all hope again.


	19. Shiver

**ARC 3: A Mountain Divides Them Apart**

**DAY 19: Shiver **

* * *

"And to this day," Katara says in her eeriest voice, "the house stands empty. But sometimes…people see plumes of smoke rising in the distance, as though little Nini is still trying to get warm."

There is silence around the fire. Both Aang and Toph are clinging to Sokka, who clutches his sword. She's almost amused, except a voice comes out of the darkness and then she's shrieking right along with them. The baby in her lap jerks awake, wailing at the intruder that had dared to interrupt her sleep.

"Forgive me," an old lady says, stepping into the firelight, "But I couldn't help overhearing you all."

They all laugh nervously, feeding the old woman their Fire Nation colonists _we're-ignorant-please-pity-us_ spiel. The old woman laughs with them, but insists, "These woods are no place for children; come to my in and I'll give you spiced tea and warm beds."

Sokka, still pasty and white, agrees without a second thought "Yes, please."

* * *

Several days later, Katara looks at herself in the mirror. She's lost a lot of weight in the four weeks since Aikka was born. Enough that it should concern her, enough that she feels like a scarecrow with boobs. She sighs.

At least her stomach isn't too embarrassing to show, even if there are stretch marks. There's something about being a mother that makes her feel self-conscious, as if she should still be a child playing in the snow, not totting around an infant. But there are many women who become mothers at the age of seventeen (she's sure at least a few people in her tribe would be praising the spirits she managed to bear a child _so_ late). Katara sheds these thoughts. She loves her baby, more than anything.

The little monster in question wiggles on the bed.

"Are you happy to see mommy?" she coos, ticking her belly.

Somebody has fixed a little red bow in her hair and when Katara leans over her, she smiles. Aikka is a pleasantly plump baby, dark haired and golden-eyed. Clearly a Fire Nation child (none of her friends talk about the color of her eyes or the fact that her skin is shades lighter than her mother's), clearly Zuko's child. Katara smiles sadly.

The prince has been in the Fire Nation for nearly a month now and each town they pass through is still buzzing all about it. The poor think he will save them (he'd certainly be a better Fire Lord than Azula, if he lives that long), the middle class are wholly supporting him, and the wealthy seem to despise him (they have a lot to lose). Katara thinks that is they ever meet again, it will be on the battlefield and she will _end_ him.

Aikka gurgles. She sticks her little pink tongue out and Katara tugs at it gently. Those little golden eyes are happy and ignorant for now, but one day she'll want to know who her father was. Katara doesn't think she could admit to killing him (sometimes, she's not sure she could ever bring herself to hurt him). Underneath all the despair and rage and _raw_ _hurt_, she understands. The lure of home was far too strong for Zuko. Katara hopes it was worth it.

Then, as if to comfort her mother, Aikka makes a plaintive sound. It's the kind that says _feed me, mommy!_ Katara sighs, but it takes her mind off the past.

Sokka knocks a few minutes later, just as she is attaching the baby to her breast.

"I'm feeding the baby," she calls, "Come in if you dare."

She pulls the thing blanket over herself and the baby. Sokka peeks a head in, then strolls in casually (as if he wasn't making sure the coast was clear—for a man who managed to sit through her labor, he can't seem to stand the thought of her breastfeeding). He shuts the door behind him, then his easy going expression is replaced with one a great deal more serious.

"I don't want to stay here," he sprawling on the bed, "I know Hama is important to you, but this place gives be the shivers."

They've been over this dozens of times.

"Sokka, it's just a creepy looking in. Everything is perfectly fine with this town." She says.

"I just have this feeling," he says, "It's not safe here, Katara."

"She's just a little old lady in her little old in her little old inn."

"Her creepy little inn."

Katara sighs.

"Just a few more days?" she pleads, "For me?"

Her brother rolls his eyes. They both know he would capture a Fire Nation cruiser for her (and she'd easily do the same).

"Two days," he says, "Promise me now."

"Two days." She promises with a smile.

* * *

Katara fights to breath. She's kneeling in the dirt, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her limbs won't obey her and she's afraid.

"You should have learned the technique before turning against me, Katara," The old woman cackles from a dozen yards away, "It's impossible to break your way out of my grip. I control _every_ muscle, _every_ vein in your body."

Her body dances from side to side, an impossible pressure squeezing out her insides and yet she can hardly cry out.

"Stop," She gasps weakly, "_Please_."

She struggles against the grip on her limbs, the jerky movements rousing Aikka from the sling on her back. The baby wails and Hama's face turns grim.

"Your judgement is clearly clouded by your Fire Nation bastard and no doubt by the man that ruined you," she says, "But we'll be rid of them yet and show them the price for such liberties. I'll make a bloodbender out of you yet."

"_No!_" Katara cries.

Katara stands, reaching one hand back to quiet her child. Hama's eyes widen in surprise, shock, panic.

"You're not the only one who draws power from the moon," Katara growls, "I'm a stronger bender; your technique is useless upon me."

She faces the woman who dared threaten her child and that night she becomes a monster she'd never thought to imagine.

* * *

In the many years he's been gone, Zuko has imagined a million homecomings. His was greater than any mere hope, any aspiration. But once the celebrations have finished and Father's focus returns to the way, he feels as though he has been cast out into space.

He's returned home. But he finds that nothing it what he'd hoped.

Uncle is in prison. He doesn't speak, doesn't react, and doesn't move. For all the years he'd hoped Uncle would shut up, the man finally has and Zuko would give anything else for a single word of guidance.

Katara is gone. He doesn't know where she is or how she is. She could be dead for all he knows. Maybe she died in childbirth. Maybe she's holed up somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, nursing an infant and burning with hatred for him (he tries not to wonder whether his child is a girl or a boy, what he look like, what she's named the child). She was supposed to be by his side. But he's alone.

Well…never truly alone. Surrounded by vipers. Azula, disconcerting bubby Ty-Lee, silent Mai who would lure him to her bed. Servants. Strangers. Shadows.

Zuko tip toes a thin line, a turtle-duck among fox-swans.

He hates it.

* * *

Father summons him for the first time since returning home. Zuko would be lying if he claimed to be free of fear (only an idiot would not fear the fatherlord). And still, he reports faithfully to the throne room. He bows, head down, and waits.

"Azula tells me your waterbender was in Ba Sing Se."

His inability to keep custody of her proved to be the final straw for Father.

"Yes." he admits, swallowing.

"Rise, Prince Zuko," his father says, "And tell me the nature of your relations with her."

And so Zuko does the only thing he can think of. He lies with the truth. He "admits" his intentions to keep her as a concubine, confirms her pregnancy (Azula has probably spun her own story and Zuko needs to find out why), and declares his own incompetence. He doesn't expect to make it out of the room alive.

Father is silent. The flames flicker thoughtfully on the dais.

"I must say, she would make a fitting concubine," Ozai finally says, "Although a bastard is unacceptable. I commend you for your initiative. The child will be taken care of, but you may have the woman."

He panics for a moment, thinking that Katara must be in Fire Nation custody. But then his Father continues.

"She will be retrieved and presented as an engagement gift, from myself to you."

"Engagement?" Zuko all but squeaks.


	20. Ripple

**ARC 3: A Mountain Divides Them Apart**

**DAY 20: Ripple **

* * *

While Katara is over-joyed to see her father again, delighted to meet up with the many friends they've made in their travels, it's still awkward. Some never learned of her pregnancy, others fall silent when Aikka is presented (she's been dressed in water tribe blue for the occasion, but it's clear which parent she takes after). Haru goes far enough to apologize, as if Aikka is some sort of burden she must bear (Toph is sweet enough to toss him in the ocean). And yet, Katara fights the self-conscious urge to hide her baby.

Either Fire Nation natives look upon her with distaste, smiling at her fortune of being blessed with such a light-skinned child, or her own kinsmen think she has been raped and see a violent act behind Aikka's honey colored eyes.

And yet, her father is so different. He hugs his daughter close, kisses her forehead, and then proceeds to completely monopolize his only grandchild. Aikka warms up to him right away and there's something that warms Katara's heart. Her child may not have a father, but she has a loving grandfather and uncles and one very dirty Toph.

Their love turns out to be a problem; everyone seems to assume she'll sit out of the invasion. With the baby. She doesn't care if it would be the right thing to do; there won't be a point in keeping Aikka safe if they don't stop the war.

"Katara," her father says, "It's not safe for Aikka."

"Dad, I _need_ to be there," she says, "If we don't end the war, there won't a world worth living in for anyone."

She gotten heated and angry, pacing like a tiger-puma, but her father is as calm as snow fall at midnight.

"And if we won the war," he says, "But the price was our future, would it still be worth it? Would it be worth losing your child, spilling her blood and your blood in the process?"

His eyes grow colder than ice, angrier than anything she's ever seen, "Will it be worth ending the war if in ten years, you hold her blankets and her clothing and wish you still remembered what her face looked like?"

"I—

"_Will it be worth it, Katara?_"

Tears flood her eyes, because they're not talking about Aikka. They're talking about Mom and she feels frozen in place.

She imagines a child, dark haired and honey-eyed, clutching at a filthy blue and white necklace, crying herself to sleep because she hasn't got a mother to hold her.

"It won't be." She whispers.

But it won't be worth it if in ten years, that same little girl has to watch her mother raped, then murdered before her very eyes (if the same isn't done to her as well). Katara tells her father this and his face sags with grief. Years creep into the lines on his face and her father looks much older than the smiling chief he was minutes ago.

"I just want to protect you." He says softly.

Katara goes to him, wrapping his arms around him and her baby. Her father smells like leather and home, like family. She closes her eyes and tries not to bawl.

"I know, daddy."

* * *

In the end, they don't have enough waterbenders. They need every bender they can get.

Katara swears up and down she'll stay on Appa, she'll keep Aikka strapped on her back and she won't take a step off him until the battle is finished and over.

She breaks her promise and saves her father's life in return.

* * *

In the end, he writes Mai a letter.

She'd been so thrilled at their engagement, so happy and relieved. It was strange to be wanted so badly, to be appreciated like never before. But Mai is not Katara. And just as she is not his other half, Zuko is not the obedient prince his father wants.

The war is wrong and a thousand war meetings will only strengthen his resolve. The enslavement of women and the murder of innocents is something he will never condone (he will find his Katara and apologize for wronging her).

He doesn't write a letter to his father. Zuko straps his swords to his back, pulls a hood over his head. He'll give the Fire Lord his farewells in person.

* * *

Katara nurses the baby from her mat, reaches one thin hand out to send the cooking pot stirring again. Zuko watches from across the fire, mending a shirt (he's stabbed himself twice for every stitch so far).

To think that he's faced down his father, waltzed right out of the Fire Nation without a look back, faced down the assassin he'd hired, and yet he won't risk incurring her wrath. She has frozen him out and he doesn't know how to melt the divide between them.

Aside from the thinly veiled death threat on the eve he joined their group, she hasn't spoken to him. Every time he tries, she simply walks right past him. Katara is indifferent, icy, vindictive even. His food is always a little burnt, slightly salty. His freshly cleaned laundry turned up in his room, muddied and damp. She scrutinizes him when he trains Aang, and yet has not shared a word with him.

Katara burps Aikka, then sets her child down on the roll. She bustles around, picking up this, stirring that, sweeping things away. Her shoulders are tense and she watches him out of the corner of her eye.

The baby is always a few feet away, kicking chubby little feet into the air. His daughter is beautiful. His fingers twitch, he wants to scoop her up and kiss her little face all over. Zuko had thought fatherhood would scare him, but to imagine that he'd helped make that little thing? It's unthinkable. Aikka is too perfect, too small, too precious.

And yet she won't let him get close enough to touch her.

Zuko knows that he deserves a lot of things, a lot more than thinly veiled death threats and petty gestures. But he's not so sure he deserves to be barred from his child.

"Katara." He says.

She doesn't look up, but emotions ripple across her features. Her body tenses even more (if that can be imagined) and her mouth settles into a grim slash.

He stands, approaches her.

The warrior in her forces the scorned woman to stand straight, meet his eyes.

"What do you want?"

"We need to talk." Zuko says.

"There is nothing to say."

She turns back to her cooking pot. Zuko grabs her arm.

"You can't freeze me out like this," he says, "You haven't even given me a chance."

"And I suppose you'd like another one of those," she hisses, "What will it be this time, you'll throw the baby off a cliff for your sister? Maybe she'll let you polish her shoes when she's finished razing the world?"

"Katara—

She jerks herself out of his grip, a fresh hand-print sized burn gracing her arm. Her eyes are wide and for a moment he sees the pain and hurt and anger. Her lip trembles, but then everything hardens over.

"Wait, _spirits_, Katara, I'm sorry," he babbles, "Katara—

"Stay away from me and my baby." She hisses, voice low.

She scoops up Aikka, who immediately begins to bawl, and marches away.

"Wait!" he cries, "Just give me a chance, she's my child too!"

Katara turns, marches back, and breaks his nose.

* * *

She's crying by the time she reaches her room. Aikka, herself, has stopped crying, watching her mother with curious eyes and a slobbering rosebud mouth. She sets the baby on the bed, curling up around her.

She knows that he deserves a chance. If it were anybody else, she'd given them that chance. Katara would sit and listen and try to understand. She would let him hold his daughter and try to coexist, if only for the sake of their child and the Avatar.

But every time she looks at Zuko, all the emotions she'd thought were buried come rushing back. All the hate and hurt and intense fear that she's just waiting for Ba Sing Se to happen _again_ cloud her thoughts until she's somebody else. Not Katara. Not Aikka's mother or Sokka's sister.

"I'm sorry," she tells her baby, sobbing, "that I'm your mother."

Aikka's eyes are wide, body tense. She looks like she's about to open her mouth and cry _again_. Katara tries not to laugh, the look on her face is precious. She wipes away her own tears and sets about comforting her baby.

"It's okay," she soothes, "We'll be okay."

She falls asleep to a little pair of eyes watching her.

* * *

The room is dark when she wakes again, Aikka is not by her side. Katara jerks up, scrambling to her feet.

"Calm down," Sokka says, "Aang's got her."

She sits back, combing a hand through her frizzy hair.

"Did you guys—

"Dinner was just fine," he brother says, "We even saved you a bowl."

She slumps back over her pillow. The tone of his voice tells her that he's not pleased with her (nobody has been pleased with her behavior as of late). This is the first time they've spoken in days.

"You know then?"

Sokka fiddles with his boomerang. He's sitting at the edge of her bed, facing the door. Outside, children are laughing as Toph tells a joke she can't quite hear (though she imagines it's probably inappropriate).

"The entire temple heard the last bit," He says, leaning back a bit, "Zuko, huh? Should have seen that one coming."

Katara curls into a ball. She's avoided and dodged questions for so long it's almost second nature. Telling the truth is harder, but she forces herself to come clean. Sokka doesn't say much, only sharpens his hunting knife as she recounts her harrowing capture and eventual escape.

He looks at her when she's fallen silent.

"Is he the father?" he asks.

She nods. Sokka gets that thoughtful look. "Do you want me to gut him?"

She shakes her head just as quickly. He stands, sheathes his knife.

"I'll bring some soup and have Aang return Aikka before bed," he says, "You should get some rest."

Katara sits up, "Wait, Sokka. What should I do?"

Sokka shrugs.

"You don't want him dead, right?" he says, "Then maybe you should give him a chance. Just listen."

"Should I forgive him?" she says, voice small and unsure.

He doesn't answer, only shrugs again and walks out the door.

* * *

Katara heals Zuko's nose the next day. She hesitantly offers Aikka, showing him how to hold her. No other words are exchanged, though she watches him carefully.

He tries to apologize, but she shakes her head (her eyes are puffy, as though she has been crying). Katara pats Aikka's head, then returns to the laundry.

Much later, he finds clothing folded neatly at the foot of his bed. His turtle-duck pendent is missing, but he finds it meticulously cleaned and pinned to Aikka's sling.


	21. Disaster

**ARC 3: A Mountain Divides Them Apart**

**DAY 21: Disaster **

* * *

Zuko's life is a serious disaster and it's about to get a whole lot worse.

Aikka wails in his arms, cranky and poopy. The stench is enough to knock a man down and her mother has mysteriously disappeared.

"Are we gonna train now?" Aang bounces around the main courtyard.

The place is a mess. Lunch is half-cooked, dirt and dirty clothing strewn about. Aikka cries, Aang chatters endlessly, Toph and The Duke are arguing about something, and _Katara is nowhere to be found_.

_"ENOUGH!"_ he shouts.

Everybody, even Aikka, falls silent. Zuko extinguishes the weak cooking fire, yanks Aang to a stop by his shirt collar.

"This is what we're going to do," he says, "Toph and The Duke will clean up campsite; garbage goes there and clothing here. Teo; get me Sokka and an extra nappy for Aikka. Aang, we're gonna finish lunch and you're going to practice holding a steady intensity of flame. Any objections?"

"What about me?" Haru says.

"Find me Katara," he says briskly, "Don't bother her, just make sure she's alive."

They all stand around for a long moment and then Zuko barks at them. Children scurry away. Aang sulks and Aikka makes a slobbery noise.

Zuko sighs.

* * *

In the end, Aang changes the baby (Sokka is just as lousy with babies as Zuko is). They manage a somewhat decent, mostly meaty lunch (though roasted meat is just fine when it comes to a hungry horde of boys and Toph).

Haru eventually reports back. Katara has fallen asleep in the middle of laundry duty. Zuko hands the baby off to Aang (the fact that the airbender is the only who can be trusted to a hold a baby is disturbing) and makes his way to the upper courtyard.

He finds her slumped over a fountain, a shirt under her chin and one hand trailing in the water. She's wearing Fire Nation closing, her back and calves mostly bare. He stops short. Zuko would seriously enjoy scooping her, carrying her down to his bedroom, and waking her with lingering kisses, gentle touches. But they aren't lovers anymore and so he taps her shoulder.

Katara jerks away, the shirt beneath her chin falling into the fountain. She blinks and then relaxes, half-asleep.

Zuko gathers the laundry, then leads his waterbender to her room. He deposits her on the bed, pulling her boots off. He tucks her in, then pauses to stroke her hair reverently. Katara smiles in her sleep and he jerks back, as if he's been stung by a bumblebee-fly. She'll never smile at him like that again, at least not intentionally.

He watches for a long moment, memorizing the image, and then creeps away to find an airheaded Avatar to train (and a baby to distract him with).

* * *

Sokka's been sharpening his knife for an hour. They've been sitting in this balloon for nearly two and yet they've hardly spoken three words.

"So." Zuko says.

Sokka whistles innocently. They putter awkwardly for twenty more minutes. "Nice clouds." Sokka says.

"Yes," Zuko agrees, "Very fluffy."

Sokka sheathes his knife, Zuko relaxes visibly. "I, ugh, wanted to talk to you about something," the prince says, "about your sister."

"Katara?"

Zuko nods.

Sokka stares at the clouds for a while longer. "I've been meaning to talk to you, too." He says.

They look at each other, then lapse into awkward silence.

* * *

"So, you slept with my sister."

* * *

It's not until days later, just miles away from home that Sokka finds a moment to speak with Zuko. They've commandeered Azula's aircraft and that accomplishment, in and of itself, is both terrifying and intensely gratifying (Sokka hopes she got her underwear in a real twist for that one). He finds the prince, staring out a window. He's not looking forward, toward their temporary home, but back at the one he left behind.

"Hey," Sokka says, "You wanna talk?"

Breaking in and out of a prison is enough to iron out more than a few issues between two men. He figures Zuko is alright for a Fire Nation guy and maybe alright for his sister too. But he needs to understand, first, what happened in Ba Sing Se (his sister has told him a lot, but there has not been a single word about those hours in the crystal caverns, not a single whisper). But first things first, of course.

"Zuko?"

The prince jerks away from the window, as if he has just realized Sokka spoke at all.

"Huh? Oh, hey…Hi, Sokka."

"Are you thinking about gloomy knife girl?" he asks.

Zuko looks away, at the sun. "Yeah," he says, "Knowing my sister, she's probably dead."

They don't speak for a moment. Sokka never liked Mai, but death at Azula's hands can't be pretty.

"She knew what she was doing." He tells the prince.

"But I should have protected her," he says, "I didn't like her much, but Mai would have jumped in a river for me…and I guess she did. I should have—

Sokka grabs his arm.

"Don't trivialize her sacrifice. She knew what the consequences were."

Zuko shrugs uncomfortably. "Yeah." He says.

That's a good cue for awkward silence, but Sokka steps up to the plate. Now is as good a time as any (or bad, if you had to look at it that way).

"We need to talk about my sister." He says.

Zuko sighs. "There's a lot to say."

Sokka shrugs. "I've got time."

* * *

Katara can't believe her eyes.

"Sokka," she gasps, "What's this? What do you mean—?

Her father appears in the hanger door. She cries _Dad!_ and rushes to him. Hakoda embraces his children, then his granddaughter. Zuko watches awkwardly at the fringes of their group; Toph bemoans the lack of actual meat (Haru makes eyes at Suki and his mustache replaces a certain prince on Sokka's kill list). The prince can't seem to take his eyes away from the little Water Tribe family.

"Zuko?" Katara says softly.

He's spaced out so long that the rest of the group has migrated to the fire, Aikka giggling in her grandfather's arms. They are the only two at the edge of the courtyard.

"I'm sorry." He says automatically.

Katara fiddles with her fingers. There is a spit stain on the shoulder of her dress, dark moons underneath her eyes. She's so far from the warrior, staring at her feet like a little girl. Zuko can't help feel that her exhaustion is his fault (and in a way it really is).

"No, I should be the sorry one," she admits, "I was wrong to act the way I did…I should have given you a chance to star with. I wanted you to know that I will now."

She still won't look at him. Words fail him, so he takes her hands. Katara _really_ looks at him then. She's still scared to trust him.

"We'll…we'll be okay," he tells her, "Okay?"

She nods. "Okay."

* * *

In retrospect, stealing Azula's airship was a disastrous idea.

It doesn't really occur to anyone, however, until she's practically knocking the temple down around their ears. Within minutes they go from sleeping peacefully to dodging rubble and screaming (or Aikka does anyway). Zuko practically manhandles the two of them onto Appa and then rushes to battle his sister.

He buys them enough time to hug Hakoda goodbye, promise to meet again soon, and then they're hurtling into the chaos. Just in time see Zuko slip off the side of an airship and plummet into nothingness.

Katara screams.


	22. Sea

**ARC 4: They Built A Path To Be Together **

**DAY 22: Sea**

* * *

Maybe six months ago she could have been sitting around that fire and laughing off the giddy relief that comes from knowing you're going to live for one more say. Sokka toasts Zuko and it's all Katara can do to choke out her own _ha-ha_.

Zuko has the audacity to smile. He almost _died_.

In that split second that she had to panic, arms reaching up to catch him, she couldn't but imagine a world without Zuko. Not just a daughter without a father, but herself living, breathing, and surviving when he did not.

It turns out that near-death experiences really work wonders for relationship problems. Katara doesn't have time to fight; they could all die tomorrow. Life is too short to freeze him out. Too short to putter around him or to focus on herself.

Katara sets her tea down and walks away from the fire. Suki, holding the baby, glances at her, but nobody says anything (except for Sokka, but he doesn't count).

* * *

It's windy that night, the smell of sea salt thick in the air. Katara breathes in deeply, sitting on a grassy hillside. Their island is tiny, right smack dab in the middle of nowhere. It's easier to breath out here, away from her friends; there is nobody to watch her cry.

"Katara?"

Except Zuko, of course.

"Go away." She says.

He sighs. "I thought you were going to give me a chance to—

"I'm not mad at you right now! Just leave me alone!"

He pauses. "Are you _crying?_"

Silence.

"Katara?" he says.

She sniffles. She turns to face him, scrubbing at her face.

"I've just had a hard day, okay?" she says, "Don't worry about me."

Zuko hesitates, then sits down beside her. "I care." he says awkwardly.

"I know," Katara whispers, "But when you fell…."

She trails off, then laughs unexpectedly.

"A few weeks ago, I would have been happy to see you plummet to your death," she says, "But when you did…my heart stopped. I was so scared that I would never see you again and I would never have a chance to make things right between us."

"Katara, I'm always going to come back for you and Aikka."

"I know," she says, "I know. But it was the first time I'd thought about it and I realized that life is too short to hate you. Or even to hold you at arm's length."

She looks him in the eye, "Zuko, I love you and what happened in Ba Sing Se doesn't change that."

He blinks, staring at her. "You do?"

She takes his hand, "_Yes_, I do. I don't just want a father for Aikka, I want you back. I want what we had before."

Zuko looks away, "I'm not the person I was before. I've changed."

"I know," she says, "We've both changed so much. But being with you, even if it felt wrong, was just so right. You're right."

The lapse into silence, smiling at each other. Zuko takes her hands and tugs her closer.

"I know we didn't talk about Ba Sing Se yet," he says, "But—

Katara shakes her head. "Last night, right after everyone went to sleep, Sokka came and…we talked about it. I know why you did it. I was mad because you were so wrong to act the way you did, but I understand."

"I tried to protect you," he says, "Even if I wanted to go home so badly I would have sacrificed everything for it. I just couldn't give you up."

She hugs him, tearing up from the sheer familiarity. Katara throws her arms around him and squeezes.

"I've missed you." She whispers.

Zuko smiles and kisses the top of her head. They rock together, silent and warm and safe. The moon drifts on, the clouds blow by. Katara sighs and feels as though she could die right here and now.

"Why did you name her Aikka?" Zuko asks, "Why a Fire Nation name that means…_love song?_"

Katara blushes. "A few days after giving birth, I found my father rocking her to sleep and I don't know where he learned it, but he was humming that song about two lovers," she says, "I remember realizing I loved you on the night I told you that story and it seemed fitting…especially since…since—

"Since what?" Zuko asks.

She holds her breath for a moment, exhales loudly. "Especially since the war had torn us apart by that point."

He can't help apologizing (part of him suspects that he'll be apologizing until the day he dies). Katara doesn't respond, only buries her nose in his chest and inhales deeply. Zuko is struck with a ridiculous idea.

"She doesn't have to represent a war that tore us apart," he says, "She can be the monument to our love. A child that will grow up in a peaceful world…where we all live together."

"I like that." She says and he can hear the smile in her voice.

* * *

"You know that's still really cliche, right?"

* * *

Suki steps carefully down the slope, clutching a sleeping baby carefully. It's late and she'd like to pass Aikka off so _she_ can go to sleep (with Sokka, but that's not the point). She hears a murmur down towards the bottom; Zuko and Katara must still be talking. But she can't see them, her view hidden by a large pair of rock pillars (the entire landscape is dotted with them).

She rounds the corner, calling Katara's name softly and screeches in alarm. A half-dressed Katara shrieks and Zuko doesn't even bother, resigning himself to a lifetime of embarassment and failure (spirits, he shouldn't even try anymore).

* * *

"You were doing _what_ to my sister?! I don't care how cool you are, _serious bro code violation!_ _Ah_, hey! My ear, Katara, _stop_! I'm sorry, _ah!_"


	23. Reconciliation

**ARC 4: They Built A Path To Be Together **

**DAY 23: Reconciliation**

* * *

Zuko hisses her name, tapping her awake.

"Huh—

He covers her mouth and she panics; there must be intruders in the house. But then he points to their daughter, nestled between them. Not surprisingly, she's awake. She rocks from side to side, tilting slowly, _slowly_, and then she lands on her side.

"That's it," Zuko says, "Before you know it she'll be running circles around us."

Katara laughs, even though it's just before dawn and she'd love to go back to sleep. Sometimes it feels like she's the only person around here who actually _needs_ sleep. She yawns and forces herself up.

"Why don't you sleep some more?" Zuko suggests, as if he has read her mind.

It's easy for him to suggest it; he looks perfectly rested.

"She'll need to eat soon," Katara says, "And she smells funny."

Zuko sits up, tipping the baby on her back. Aikka slobbers and begins to rock herself again.

"I'll change her," Zuko says, "You can—

Katara glances at him, "We never got married."

He blinks.

"Married?" he squeaks.

Katara can't help laughing.

"Don't look so shocked," she says, "We have a baby; we're basically acting like a married couple already. I just…in my tribe getting married is important. This doesn't feel right until we do."

Zuko looks confused (he comes from a Nation where modesty means significantly less than a parka…so that's not too surprising).

"Katara…I'm not so—

"I know," she says, slipping out of bed, "Things are crazy right now; we've just gotten over things and we, frankly, might die in two weeks and I know we're still working on this, but—

"Katara, stop talking."

She glances at him, holding out a fresh nappy and cleaning cloths. Zuko hands her Aikka.

"I want to get married." He says.

She squints at him, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," he says, "You just surprised me."

"Oh."

She hands back a newly diapered baby and Zuko starts dressing her. Aikka blows bubbles at him. They both move around in silence for a few minutes, contemplating, considering, thinking.

"Did you really mean it?" Katara finally asks.

He nods, "I want to be with you. And if we win, then we really will stay together this time."

Katara smiles.

Aikka yawns. She smells like poop again.

Katara stops smiling.

* * *

It's that special sort of hot that makes a person about as lively as a jellyfish. Katara and Tiph are flopped out in the shade with Aikka between them. Aang and Zuko are training in the sun and Katara _does not_ envy them (except a shirtless Zuko is…well…).

Aikka makes a fussy noise, the kind that usually means she wants her human pacifier. Katara groans.

The whining quickly turns into crying.

"_Make it stop_." Toph moans.

Katara grunts, but picks up the baby and begins undoing her top. She pokes Toph when Aikka is quiet and safely feeding.

"Piss off." The earthbender says, rolling over.

Katara rolls her eyes. She twists her hand and the air around them freezes.

"_That's the stuff_." Toph sighs, pacified (seriously, Katara might as well be her mother _too_).

Aikka eventually decides she's not interested in feeding, but luckily Zuko approaches just as she starts to fuss again (Aang is fleeing for the beach behind him).

Toph sits up. "Guess that's my cue."

She hops up and takes after Aang, muttering under her breath about airheaded earthbending students. Meanwhile, Zuko takes Aikka and tickles her belly. She giggles.

"Are you giving mommy a hard time?" he babbles to her.

She wiggles and coos at her father. Katara can't help but smile. She memorizes the image in her mind, closes her eyes to savor it.

"I need to talk to Sokka," Zuko says, "will you come?"

She shrugs. They haven't spoken much since Zuko agreed to get married—then completely dropped the subjects (it's been days and she's not super thrilled with him right now).

But she follows him anyway.

* * *

They find Sokka and Suki in the kitchen making out instead of making lunch (Katara sighs).

"Sokka."

They spring apart, flushed. They don't even bother trying to hid it (there's not really a point—they've all walked in on each other at least once now).

"Heeey, Zuko." Sokka drawls, moving away from his girlfriend.

"I want to marry Katara." Zuko says.

Silence.

Sokka's face grows deadly calm, Suki looks shocked. Katara can hardly believe her ears (Aikka gurgles).

"What can you offer her?" Sokka asks, crossing his arms.

Tears spring into Katara's eyes; he could have walked away, but responding in lieu of her father is tantamount to considering a suitor on her behalf.

"When the war ends," Zuko says, "I will see to it that she wants for nothing."

Suki steps away, glancing between the two men (on Kyoshi Island, a woman asks a man's mother for his hand). The correct response to Sokka's question was something like_, I swear to feed her, clothe her, and protect her children_ (but Katara suspects the Fire Nation follows a different tradition).

"In the South, I would need evidence that you could feed her and protect her, give her a good life," Sokka says, "But there's no telling what the coming weeks will bring."

He sighs and turns to his sister, "Katara, do you accept this man, Zuko of the Fire Nation?"

She nods, "Yes. I do."

Zuko blushes, "In the Fire Nation—

Sokka waves a hand, "I give you permission. Be off with my sister before I change my mind and gut you—or before she does, for that matter."

Zuko glances at Katara and she mimes slitting his throat (she's still annoyed, but less so. She makes the gesture to freak him out and it works).

"I'm still going to marry you, though." She says.

* * *

They're married at sunset.


	24. Blaze

**ARC 4: They Built A Path To Be Together **

**DAY 24: Blaze**

* * *

Katara has never met General Iroh.

She did see him once, on the day she gave birth to Aikka, far below Ba Sing Se in the crystal caverns she has tried to forget. She's heard a lifetime's worth of stories from Zuko, another lifetime's worth of his prowess on the battlefield.

Nothing prepares her for the stout old man with a kind smile. He greats her with a hug and a declaration of her beauty (she blushes like a little girl).

"My nephew is very lucky to have you," he says, "Though I wish he would have told me he was married sooner."

Katara jerks back with surprise (she keeps forgetting that they're well and truly married, even if it's just by Fire Nation traditions). Zuko, a step behind his uncle, flushes (it surprises him too sometimes). They are both rescued by Aikka, who coos at precisely the right moment (she's not even three months and she's already saving her parents).

Iroh grows very still at the sight of her. He reaches out slowly, gently touches a calloused old hand to her soft baby hair. "And you who might this beautiful lady be?" he murmurs, almost to himself.

He seems entranced, delighted. Katara smiles.

"She's your granddaughter." she says (he might as well be, with the way he's cared for the child's father).

Iroh turns to Zuko, who nods.

"You've been a better father to me than my own," he says, "She's your granddaughter. Aikka."

For a moment, she thinks there are tears in Iroh's wise old eyes. But then he laughs and takes the baby from her arms.

"If you'll excuse me, children, I must abscond with your daughter at once," he declares, "We are gravely overdue for doting and grandfatherly love."

He strolls away with a babbling child in his arms (the order of the white lotus seems to converge on him at once and much bragging, cheek pinching, and baby ticking ensues).

* * *

"Dearest nephew, I still cannot fathom why you would get married without telling me."

Zuko sputters apologies for the better part of an hour (Katara tries not to giggle).

Plumes of fire blaze down the courtyard, fill the sky with cold blue and angry red. Fire against fire, brother against sister.

Her heart is breaking.

Katara knows that Azula and Zuko don't love each other the way she loves her own brother; the two of them might as well be strangers for all they care about each other. But to see a brother and a sister fight, battle it out to the blazing, fiery death (for this Agni Kai can have no alternative); it breaks her heart.

"No lightning today?" Zuko taunts, "Afraid I'll _redirect_ it?"

There is a frightening absence of cold reason in Azula's eyes; only blazing anger and fear and rage remain. The icy princess has been replaced with a fire demon. Azula cackles, thunder and lightning crackling around her (Katara thinks of her baby, many, many miles from here and thanks the spirits she was smart enough to leave her with a white lotus agent). Zuko breaths, sinking into a horse stance and the Azula fires but it's not at her husband, it's at _her_—everything happens at once.

Zuko shouts, throws himself into the path of lightning and takes it right to the chest.

Katara cries his name and surges forward.

* * *

She has poured all of her energy into healing him and yet Zuko remains motionless beneath her fingertips, even as his sister shrieks and spits plumes of fire in the distance (she's chained to a grate, screaming through her her sobs). Tears blur her vision Katara's vision.

"Zuko," she whispers, "Don't go."

She thinkings of a boy feeding turtle-ducks with her, a man making love to her in a little tent beside a mountain, his strong and capable hands cradling their child. She thinks of everything that will die without Zuko, everything that will shrivel up and _die_ inside of her.

"Don't you dare!" she cries, beating his motionless chest, "Don't leave me, you jerk!"

She thinks of a daughter who will never know her father, of children they will never have together. Katara howls to the bloody skies, clutches Zuko's shoulders so tightly she draws blood.

"You can't leave me." She pleads.

Zuko coughs, chest heaving with the effort of drawing a breath. He smiles at her.

"I wouldn't…dream…of it." he says through coughing fits.

She cries his name and holds him even closer.

"Tara, c-could you…let go?" he rasps, "Of my…shoulders?"

It takes a moment for her to remember how to pry her fingers away and then another for to help him sit up. Zuko touches his chest, right below his perctorals. The skin there is smoothed over, but puckered and raw like an angry starburst. He would have been dead without her; he was nearly dead with her by his side.

"Thank you, Katara." he croaks.

"No," she says, and means it, "I'm the one who should be thanking you."

Then she begins crying in earnest.


	25. Shower

**ARC 4: They Built A Path To Be Together **

**DAY 25: Shower**

* * *

The bloodshot sky fades into a deep, dark blue. Stars twinkle, clouds move in and douse the Fire Nation with an unexpected summer shower. Katara sits by the turtle-duck pond and tries not to cry.

It's strange that she still remembers her way to this little sanctuary, stranger still that it has not changed at all. It would be easy to forget that the war had ever occurred, standing in the place where a little girl once befriended a lonely prince. Katara touches the last remnant of her beloved hair sticks, the worn and faded, scorched turtle-duck tip. It's been worn smooth by her fingers, and by Zuko's. One day, she knows that their daughter will reach into her pocket and trace the smooth edges for comfort.

Katara sighs.

She doesn't know if Aang confronted the Fire Lord, only that it's all over now. If they won, they won. If not…she desperately wants to believe that the Avatar _did_ meet the Fire Lord, that he _did not_ disappear when the world needed him most.

For so long, she has hoped and hoped and hoped. But for once she cannot muster the strength to believe that this will be alright in the end. Ozai could be on his way now and Zuko is still far too weak to travel. They're sitting turtle-ducks.

Katara smiles wryly and stands up. The heavy shower drenches her instantly, but she breathes in the wonderful smell and continues on her way (it's fitting, she thinks, that Sozin's comet has been followed by this deluge. Almost as if the Fire Nation has been put out, their flames of war simply washed away).

She pads through empty palace halls, not a single soul in sight. The kitchen is easy enough to find and she prepares a simple meal in the grandest kitchen she has ever seen. Katara wanders back, though she nearly doesn't find the royal family's hall. Zuko is stumbling out of his room when she rounds the corner.

"Spirits," he swears, the tension relaxing in his shoulders, "I woke up and thought you were—

"I made food." She interrupts (she won't let him finish, because if Ozai does come back then they really will be dead).

She ushers him back into the room, feeds him when he claims he is not hungry. Zuko seems to understand that protesting will shatter the fragile calm she is clinging to. He eats his share and pulls down onto the bed when their stomachs are full (rather, he ineffectually tugs at her until she follows).

Katara feels small against her husband, one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders and another around her waist. He faces her, smiling.

"It's raining outside." Katara says.

She misses her baby, worries for her friends.

"Everything will be fine." Zuko tells her.

She cocks an eyebrow.

"Okay," Zuko admits, exasperated, "I'm worried too. But Aang will come through…he will, alright Katara?"

They'd argued, on the way to the Caldera City, whether the Avatar would come back. Zuko was cynical, Katara was hopeful. But sometimes, she thinks, being in love means believing in something you know isn't true, if only for the sake of a Water Tribe girls.

"If we lost," Katara says, "Then I want to spend my last hours with you."

She kisses him and while Zuko might be weak, she is not. They savor the silence and banish the worries away with love.

* * *

At least they're sleeping when their friends finally find them (Sokka clutches his impromptu crutch and looks vaguely green).

* * *

Iroh arrives a day later, just as people are beginning to trickle back into the capitol and Zuko is to be coronated. In his arms, he holds a smiling baby girl.


	26. Flash (back)

**ARC 4: They Built A Path To Be Together **

**DAY 26: Flash (Back)**

* * *

Katara finally concedes, on the bright and sunny morning of his coronation, that Aikka looks adorable in red (she tells Zuko this in a rather disgruntled manner and he can't help laughing at her). She even goes as far as admitting that she prefers her husband in it as well. She helps him dress, tugging robes through weak arms, tying sashes neatly.

They encounter his former fiancée as they leave for the turtle-duck pond (it's the only bit of family time they'll get till late tonight). Unexpectedly, Katara thanks her for saving Zuko's life at the Boiling Rock (the tall dark-haired woman seems taken back by the sincerity in her words, offers a reluctant smile). She leaves the two to talk, though she reminds Zuko that he has _ten minutes_ to follow or his life will be forfeit (the other woman smiles a little wider this time, amused, and Katara is struck with the sudden intuition that they will become good friends).

* * *

Zuko finds Katara in the process of renaming each turtle-duck. Aikka leans against her mother, chewing on her hand. Her eyes follow him as he sits beside them, fixes a bow in her hair (_Aang got you, didn't he?_ Katara accuses through narrowed eyes). Zuko smiles innocently and pulls out a loaf of bread.

They feed the turtle-ducks and Zuko considers how…_right_ this feels. For the first time in his life, he is at peace. Sure, he's about to become Fire lord, take up the task of transforming the most hated nation in the entire world, but _this_, this right _here_ is what will give him the strength to do it.

Once upon a time, he'd wanted Katara in the Fire Nation. In his musings, she sat beside him in the gauzy red and gold of a concubine cradling a son in her lap. Zuko's father would have loved him, Katara would have adored him in spite of her imprisonment, and everything would have perfect. The memory is so flawed and so misguided that he waves it away, replaces it with what is right now.

Katara, in red and blue, their daughter babbling happily in her lap. They are both safe from Ozai and happy and free. This scene, this one right here, is not perfect. It's _right_. He can feel it in his bones.

_Destiny_, he thinks, _can be a funny thing._

But there is only one way to keep all of this perfectly _right_.

"Katara," he says, "Will you be the Fire Lady?"

She blinks (they have this terrible habit of stewing over crucial things for _days_ before dumping it on the other abruptly). They haven't talked much about this marriage. They were in love and with weeks before a potential and bloody death, they were rash. Getting married was a way to live a little before they died.

But they've survived and he hopes she will stay beside him.

"I know it's sudden," he continues, "But as my wife…you will rule the Fire Nation beside me and we can rebuild the world. It won't be easy, but if you'll have me…I want you by my side. Always."

She searches his eyes for a long time.

"I married you, didn't I?" she murmurs, almost to herself.

Aikka seems to find this funny and giggles. Katara smiles weakly, staring at the water.

"I knew that if we won, things would change," she says, "I knew that you'd be here…in the Fire Nation and I would want to be beside you."

She shoots him an embarrassed look, "I faced down you sister, but being Fire Lady makes me a little scared."

"I'm terrified." Zuko admits.

He finds her hand, squeezes it tightly.

"But we can do this together." He tells her.

They smile at each other and Zuko knows it's right.

* * *

"You're not that goofy little boy in the iceberg anymore." Katara says.

She holds Aang at arms length, smiling as though the Avatar is her child.

"What I'm trying to say, Aang," she continues, "Is that I'm so, so proud of you."

She embraces him and Zuko considers that he might as well be her child (their own daughter has been kidnapped by two possessive grandfathers).

"Aw, isn't this just sweet." Toph drawls, wiping away an imaginary tear.

"Shut up." Katara mutters and pulls her in.

It has a rippling effect, Sokka and Zuko are quickly pulled in as well. There is much shoulder rubbing, bone crushing pulling, and well-intentioned back thumping (from Toph, of course). Zuko can't quite believe he managed to find this, these people who he loved like they were his family.

"A year ago," Aang sniffles, "I was still frozen in an iceberg and now—

"Now we're friends." Zuko finishes.

"No," Katara says, "We're family."

For once, there are no protests (not even a crack from Toph). Zuko thinks back. A year ago, a year so vivid that he can flash back and _feel_ the grief in the air, he was a banished prince doomed to serve in the Earth Kingdom till his men were lost and his life followed (whichever came first).

_And now?_

A gong rings outside. They all hastily pull apart, eyes wipes and nervous smiles pasted on (they've finally ended the war; all there is left is to declare it).

"We'd better go." Someone says gruffly (it's probably Sokka).

Zuko follows his friends out the door, looking toward the pavilion where he fought Azula and where he will declare peace. People will finally have a chance to rebuild; life free from fear of war. He just has to say the words and make it happen.

Katara takes his hand and they find bravery in each other's eyes.

_Now_, Zuko thinks as they appear before the crowd, _everything will be right._

* * *

[a/n]: I always was always a little disgruntled that only Zuko and Aang were the ones declaring the war over. I get the point, Fire Lord and Avatar, etc, but I think it would have been perfect if they had all been standing up there together.


	27. Electric

**ARC 4: They Built A Path To Be Together **

**DAY 27: Electric**

* * *

The atmosphere is tense, practically electric with excitement. The heroes of the war stand before the crowd and the Fire Prince raises a hand for silence.

_Today_, Zuko declares, _this war is finally over._

The crowded square cheers. He smiles, raises a hand again.

_I promised my Uncle that I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation and I will. _

_The road ahead of us is challenging. _

_A hundred years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided._

He pauses.

_But with the Avatar's help, we can get it back on the right path and begin a new era of love and peace. _

Zuko motions for the Fire Sages and kneels. He pulls Katara down beside him. The Fire Sage places a golden seven-pronged comb in his top knot. A smoother, no less golden comb is placed in his wife's hair.

_ALL HAIL FIRE LORD ZUKO _

_ALL HAIL FIRE LADY KATARA_


	28. Soulmates

**ARC 4: They Built A Path To Be Together **

**DAY 28: Soulmates**

* * *

The party rages on for a week.

At some point during that time, a drunken Sokka manages to gamble Aikka away to The Boulder (who is surprisingly good at Pai Sho). His spoils (including Iroh's left shoe) are paraded around the palace until the baby poops (she's quickly relinquished to her mother at that point). A combination of Iroh, Toph, and Ty Lee sing the worst rendition of The Girls in Ba Sing Se not once, but _seven times_. The Fire Lord is frozen to a wall at some point and Aang declares his reparation for the war to be a single turtle-duck (until Katara freezes him to a wall and the suit is hastily dropped).

The insanity is a little overwhelming and so Zuko leaves the baby with a reliably sober Hakoda. He flees to the one quiet place he knows will be empty; too bad that someone else had already concluded the same thing.

"We always seem to meet here." Katara tells her husband.

Zuko smiles, but says nothing. She leans against him, closing her eyes and breathing in the scent of a late summer night. They enjoy the silence together, watching as the moon rises and shines in the sky.

Ducks quack in contentment, party goers laugh in the distance. Katara counts the stars aloud, tells him how comforting it is that the moon looks the same no matter what nation you stand in. She regales him with the tale of the princess who supposedly sacrificed herself for the moon.

"And Yue, named for the moon itself," she concludes, "Wanders across the sky and shines her moonlight only on the most worthy."

Zuko takes her hand. He doesn't have a legend to tell; he is, unfortunately, a man of few happy stories, but he reminds her of a story she once told _him_.

"You were wrong," Katara says and he is glad that she can, "There may be a monument in our name yet."

"Someday," he says, then leers suggestively, "Or maybe more children?"

Katara pushes him away, "You carry them in _your_ womb this time, of powerful Fire Lord."

She still warms up to the idea after a few lingering kisses (though she insists that many years will pass before their next monster—the one they have isn't even teething yet).

"We can practice for them, though." Zuko wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and Katara groans (his pickup lines aren't _that_ lousy, are they?).

"I don't think you'd know subtlety if it hit you with a brick." She remarks.

His efforts seem to work, however, because he managed to coax her to her feet in anticipation of a mad dash to their chambers (spirits help the souls that cross their path). Zuko leans down to kiss her (he need all the enthusiasm he can get from her) and stops short.

There, in the distance, a boy stares at him.

Yellow eyes, crooked phoenix plume. Smooth face, little white hands holding brown hands that are _even smaller_.

A little prince stands beside a water tribe girl.

His own Katara takes his hands and the memory comes back to him, a vague vision buried by time and tragedy, the memory of a scarred man holding a beautiful woman in the moonlight.

Zuko smiles at the boy he once was, reassures him with calm eyes and clutches his own wife a little tighter. The Fire Lord nods goodbye to the Prince, a man lets go of the past.

Zuko kisses Katara and they flee into the night.


	29. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

* * *

In the years that followed the end of the war, Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Katara began restoration and reparation of the world. With the combined efforts of the Avatar, the greatest Earthbender in the world, and one very sarcastic warrior turned brilliant councilman, they ushered in an era of peace, harmony, and balance.

Sokka, who managed to convince a certain Kyoshi warrior to marry him, eventually assumed role as Chief of the Southern Water Tribe. His father, alternated his time between his horde of grandchildren in the South and a similar army in the Fire Nation (he was also the ambassador, but it was a convenient excuse to visit his only daughter frequently).

The Dragon of the West retired to his teashop in Ba Sing Se, assisted by a foul-mouthed earthbender when she wasn't terrorizing her metalbending students. The Jasmine Dragon became the most famous teashop in the entire world, especially after that same earthbender eloped with the Avatar. The two had a mountain of children and unfortunately for Toph, all but one were airbenders (that one earthbender was just as tough as her mother).

Mai remained in the Fire Nation capital for a few brief year, during which she pinned a few noblewoman to various walls and trained until she was positively _lethal_. She ran off to join the circus with Ty Lee as a knife thrower, but a nobleman caught her eyes a few years later and they retired to Ember Island together. Ty Lee had a dozen lovers and two beautiful girls who were _nothing_ alike. They both remained friends with the Fire Lady throughout their lives.

The Fire Lord and Lady transformed the Fire Nation. Battleships were abandoned, swords melted down, and they became the most sophisticated nation in the entire world. Although Zuko and Katara never managed to get a monument to their love, they did have a few more children. Their steamy love affair continued well until their children were old enough to be embarrassed (even Azula, after a few years in rehabilitation, found it positively _disgusting_). Aikka went on to become a master firebender and eventually became the Fire Lady when her parents retired to their estate on Ember Island and became _even more_ embarrassing.

They were all ridiculously happy, even when some idiot composed a bawdy song about the Fire Lord and Lady (it even made _Iroh_ blush).

It became terribly popular and is still sung to this day, though children whisper that if you say recite it three times before a pond in the moonlight the Fire Lady will appear and freeze you in a block of ice (the fact that it _actually_ happened once has been lost to history).

And so it was.

They lived happily and hilariously and not very epically ever after.

* * *

**[a/n]:** Unfortunately, we've reached the end of Zutara Month and the end of this tale. Despite being wildly popular (thanks guys!), it's also the first full-length fic I've finished. Pretty wild, huh?

Given the restraints and lack of time, I will spend the next few months revising and editing _A Mountain Divides Them Apart_. I'll be sure to let you know when it's completed, but we aren't done with this story yet!

Thank you all for your support, for your likes, reblogs, art, and even anon asks. It's made this process possible and beyond that, enjoyable.

Happy shipping!


End file.
